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Fate of Saurfang Quest Chain
The quest chain that continues the story of Saurfang is live today for Horde characters. This chain culminates in a choice that will have consequences in the future! Pick up the quest on the Horde Warship in Dazar'alor's harbor.
Alliance Now Control Darkshore
The Alliance has taken Darkshore and so a few things are now available: The world boss Ivus the Decayed is up in Darkshore for Alliance players. He rewards a chance for item level 385 loot so be sure to kill him!
Darkshore rares have had their loot lockouts reset for Alliance.
Alliance have access to the Warfront cycle quests Buzzkill, Remaining Threats, and Tapping the Breach.
Alliance has access to world quests in Darkshore.
Horde can now start the contribution process to launch the Darkshore Warfront.
Level
Type
Slot
Name
Model Viewer
385
Trinket
Trinket
Ancient Knot of Wisdom
385
Trinket
Trinket
Knot of Ancient Fury
385
Trinket
Trinket
Forest Lord's Razorleaf
385
Cloth
Chest
Garments of the Forest Lord
Modelviewer
385
Cloth
Waist
Ivus' Tanglemoss Waistcord
Modelviewer
385
Leather
Head
Warring Ancient's Mask
Modelviewer
385
Leather
Waist
Protector's Tangleroot Belt
Modelviewer
385
Mail
Shoulders
Forest Protector's Shoulderguards
Modelviewer
385
Mail
Hands
Gnarled Bough Gauntlets
Modelviewer
385
Plate
Head
Petrified Ironbark Crown
Modelviewer
385
Plate
Feet
Stoneroot Stompers
Modelviewer
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Ivus the Decayed
Once a staunch ally in Alterac Valley, Ivus the Forest Lord succumbed to the Horde's defilement after returning to defend Darkshore. Even in decay, with his mind twisted by dark magic, he would rather be cut down than cede even a single inch of the forest to his enemies. Overview - Ivus the Decayed often uses abilities to attack several players at random and will retreat to the safety of his Petrified Bark when at low health. Tanks - Ivus will cast Plague Breath in your direction, leaving a Plagued Bog on the ground beneath you.
Fungal Bloom will leave a few clear areas on initial impact before spreading.
Plaguelings summoned while Ivus is Petrified fixate on players at random and cannot be controlled through threat generation.
Healers -
Hurl Blight will hit players at random.
Fungal Bloom will leave a few clear areas on initial impact before spreading.
Plaguelings will channel Devour on a random player until they are dispatched.
Damage Dealers -
Hurl Blight will hit players at random.
Fungal Bloom will leave a few clear areas on initial impact before spreading.
Ivus will remain immune to damage while Petrified. Dispatch all active Plaguelings to make Ivus end the Petrification.
Plague Breath - Inflicts 30 Plague damage to all enemies in a cone in front of the caster. Plagued Bog - You take 30 Plague damage every second you remain in the area and your movement speed is reduced by 20%.
Hurl Blight - Hurls several boulders at random enemies, inflicting 30 Plague damage to players within 3 yards of their impact.
Shockwave - The caster slams the ground, sending a shockwave out in front of the caster that inflicts 30 Physical damage to all players caught in its path.
Fungal Bloom - The caster spreads plague throughout the land around them, causing several fungal blooms to grow rampantly. Standing in the blooms causes players to take 60 Plague damage.
Petrify - The caster enters a petrified state and calls forth a swarm of plaguelings to fight for them. While petrified, the caster is immune to all damage. Defeating all of the plaguelings will end the petrification effect. Plagueling - Devour - Each plagueling focuses on a random target, inflicting 10 Shadow damage every second.
Bonus Event Quest Reward Tooltip Error
The weekly quest for the BfA Bonus Dungeon event still rewards a Heroic piece of Uldir gear. The quest is displaying a normal cache, but this is just a tooltip error that will be fixed.
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Weekly for 4 mythic dungeons only gives a normal cache now?? Used to say heroic historically, was this intended or should I wait to turn in?
It's still a Heroic piece - this is just a tooltip issue (which we're working to fix). (WarcraftDevs)
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Checking Out The Incredibly Wild Side of Rastakhan's Rumble Ji'arak - Zuldazar Battle for Azeroth World Boss Ji'arak is the world boss this week!
Level
Type
Slot
Name
Model Viewer
355
Back
Back
Windswept Dinorider's Cape
Modelviewer
355
Cloth
Head
Matriarch's Shadowveil
Modelviewer
355
Cloth
Hands
Gloves of Enveloping Winds
Modelviewer
355
Leather
Waist
Avian Clutch Belt
Modelviewer
355
Leather
Legs
Savage Terrorwing Leggings
Modelviewer
355
Mail
Waist
Hurricane Cinch
Modelviewer
355
Mail
Legs
Windshear Leggings
Modelviewer
355
Plate
Chest
Stormcrash Chestguard
Modelviewer
355
Plate
Feet
Galebreaker's Sabatons
Modelviewer
355
Plate
Wrists
Talonscored Azure Vambraces
Modelviewer
Battle for Azeroth Dungeon Event
This week's bonus event is the Battle for Azeroth Dungeon Event. All week long the final boss of each Battle for Azeroth Dungeon will drop an extra piece of loot.
Pick up the quest Emissary of War from either your Adventure Journal or in your faction hub. Completing this quest rewards Cache of Uldir Treasures which contains a piece of Uldir loot and a large sum of Azerite power.
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
The Battle for Azeroth Dungeons Bonus Event is underway! This Week
All week, open Group Finder (default hotkey: I) to queue for any Battle for Azeroth dungeon on Normal or Heroic difficulty.
Alternatively, get a group of veteran dungeoneers together and travel to one of the Battle for Azeroth dungeons on Mythic difficulty: Atal’Dazar
Temple of Sethraliss
The Underrot
The MOTHERLODE!!
Freehold
Shrine of the Storm
Tol Dagor
Waycrest Manor
Look for the following all week long: Chronicler Shoopa in Zuldazar or Chronicler Toopa in Boralus has a quest for you – Emissary of War. Or, if you forget to pick it up there, you can start it within the Adventure Journal. Quest requirement: Complete 4 Battle for Azeroth dungeons on Mythic difficultly.
Rewards: One loot box containing a piece of gear from Heroic difficulty Uldir.
Passive bonus: The final boss in each dungeon drop additional loot on all difficulties (except Mythic Keystone difficulties.)
Every Week
The Bonus Events system consists of a rotating schedule of different activities, currently scheduled to run each week beginning on Tuesdays. Each Bonus Event grants a passive bonus to a particular game activity and offers a once-per-event quest with a noteworthy reward for accomplishing a related goal. The in-game calendar can serve as your one-stop reference for the event schedule. The Adventure Guide also offers a direct link to active Bonus Events, allowing you to easily accept any associated quests.
Island Expeditions for the Week of December 18th, 2018
The Island Expeditions for the week are: Dread Chain with Kvaldir
Rotting Mire with Pirates
Havenswood with Worgen
New PvP Brawl: Cooking Impossible
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
New PvP Brawl: Cooking: Impossible
Nomi is back, and he wants you to bring your most dangerous pots and pans to The Valley of the Four Winds for a new brawl in the kitchen. Look to your in-game calendar for round one of this cutthroat culinary conflict.
Call to Arms: Vol'dun
This week's Call to Arms is Call to Arms: Vol'dun or Call to Arms: Vol'dun. Head to Vol'dun Valley with warmode enabled to kill 10 players of the opposing faction. This will reward you with conquest and 75 reputation for either 7th Legion or The Honorbound.View the full article

Winter Veil is Coming! New Card Back, Bundle Deal, Free Packs Through Quest Patch 8.1 - Elite PvP Titles and Queue Times
Patch 8.1 added new elite titles rewarded from PvP.
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
High PvP Queue Times
We've noticed this increase in queue times as well, particularly for highly-rated players. We're currently investigating to find a fix, but this was not intended. (WarcraftDevs) PvP Titles
the PvP title NAME the Elite CLASS, added in 8.1 will this title only last for the season, or is a title for keeps, once its earned for said character/characters of said class?
Elite titles are only active during the season in which they are earned. (WarcraftDevs)
Feast of Winter Veil Guide
Winter Veil has returned and is active from December 16 to January 2nd! Click the banner for our Winter Veil Guide!
2018 Changes and Additions
At Least You're Being Careful - Rewards Toy Armor Set / Toy Armor Set. Using this toy dresses your character up in Horde or Alliance themed armor.
Greatfather Winter's Hearthstone - New toy that allows you to hearth with a festive flair!
Model Updates
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Don Your Holiday Apparel—The Feast of Winter Veil Has Begun!
The fine folks of Smokywood Pastures aren’t letting a little thing like war between the Horde and the Alliance get in the way of spreading holiday cheer—or gaining a bit of profit. Winter Veil has begun in Azeroth, and with it come all the fripperies, fineries, and delectable comestibles of the holiday. When: December 16 – January 2 Where: Initial holiday quests can be found in Orgrimmar and Ironforge, but festive decorations can be found throughout the world.
Let your spirit be light by stepping into one of the Giant Snow Globes* found outside of the Ironforge Bank, in Orgrimmar overlooking the Valley of Wisdom, or in the Broken Isles in Dalaran. It’s a truly transformative experience letting your inner Greatfather Winter helper out. A little /dance will spread the joy to those around you.
The Abominable Greench is (still) a mean one, but we’re sure that once you’ve filled up on the fine foods and beverages from Smokywood Pastures, you’re bound to put a stop to his reign of terror in the Hillsbrad Foothills. The quest You’re a Mean One… is now available to players level 60 and up.
There are plenty of holiday hats to be found on a variety of bosses from dungeons in the Broken Isles, Northrend, and more. You just need to decide which color hat you want. Will it be green or red?
*May experience some shrinkage with use
**Please /dance responsibly. Side effects include joy and laughter. Wait at least 30 minutes after eating Smokywood Pastures fine festive foods to avoid unpleasant side effects.
Patch 8.1 Hotfixes - December 17, 2018
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Classes Note: These changes will be applied with weekly restarts in each region.
Druid (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Feral Damage of all abilities increased by 7%
Mage (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Frost Damage of all abilities increased by 3%
Items
Heart of Azeroth (Fury Warrior) Reverted an unintended reduction to the damage of Reckless Flurry. Dungeons
Siege of Boralus
Viq’Goth Call of the Deep should no longer damage players who are currently mounted in the cannon. Player versus Player
Monk (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Mistweaver Fixed a bug that caused Way of the Crane to heal for more than intended on a critical strike. Quests The Alliance War Campaign quest “The Big Boom” can now be completed while the world quest “Zem’lan Rescue” is active.
View the full article

The Hivemind Mount Solved
The Secret Finding Discord has figured out the Hivemind Mount! Check out the full guide on Warcraft Secrets.
You will need a group of at least five players to acquire The Hivemind. There are many pugs going in LFG. You should all have the same warmode setting while working on the puzzle together. Step 1 - Purchase and equip the Talisman of True Treasure Tracking. This is obtained Griftah in Shattrath. Keep this equipped for the entire puzzle. Step 2 - Acquire the colored crystal monocles.
Note: Players have reported that your party only needs one of each monocle, but each one should be held by a different player. According to these reports you do not have to acquire any of these monocles personally to unlock The Hivemind. It is possible to join a group of four players who have these monocles already, but who have not completed the Suramar Beams, and join them at that step.
Red Crystal Monocle - complete the trading game puzzle in Vash’jir. You will need 2380 gold for this step. Buy 500 Seashell from Sir Finley Mrrgglton.
Buy 100 Cavity-Free Great Shark Tooth from Volatile Violetscale.
Buy 50 Razoreel Larva from Manta Stargazer.
Buy 250 Well-Fed Doctor Fish from Lil’ Whalley
Buy 10 Freshly Molted Crab Skin from Gloomy Bluefin.
Buy 50 Glittergill Glitter from Ol’ Fishbreath.
Return to Sir Finley Mrrgglton and buy 80 Seashell.
Buy 2 Giant Giant Toenail Clipping from Gloomy Bluefin.
Buy 4 Makrura Eye from Little Carp.
Buy 1 Accidentally-Severed Seahorse Fin from Volatile Violetscale.
Buy 2 Shiny Sea Serpent Scale from Crimson Angerfish.
Buy 40 Symbiotic Plankton from Manta Stargazer.
Return to Sir Finley Mrrgglton and buy 5 Scintillating Murloc Skin Lotion and 300 Seashell.
Buy 30 Vantus Black Squid Ink from Ol' Fishbreath.
Buy 30 Super Slick Eel Slime from The Blackfish.
Buy 3 Rock-Encrusted Whelk Shell from Volatile Violetscale.
Buy 5 Potent Gastropod Gloop from Little Carp.
Return to Sir Finley Mrrgglton and buy 1500 Seashell.
Buy 300 Very Pretty Coral from Lil' Whalley
Buy 100 Iridescent Shimmerray Skin from Ol' Fishbreath
Buy 20 Luxurous Luxscale Scale from Crimson Angerfish
Buy 5 Captured Cavitation Bubble from The Blackfish.
Return to Sir Finley Mrrgglton and buy the Red Crystal Monocle.
Green Crystal Monocle - complete the Skyreach puzzle. At the end of the Skyreach dungeon, you can interact with the Basic Instructions banner.
Interact with the small glowing orb on the console and colored lights will appear in the distance.
Use the console to perform the following sequence: Right - Up - Down - Up - Right - Right - Up - Left - Down - Up - Left - Down
A chest will appear at the top of the console, loot the Green Crystal Monocle.
Yellow Crystal Monocle - complete the Halls of Origination puzzle. Enter the Halls of Origination and take the stairs on the right. When you’ve reached the elevator jump down to interact with the Stellar Refraction device.
Click each constellation that appears to change the colors of other constellations nearby. Once they are all the same color, the chest will spawn containing the Yellow Crystal Monocle.
An addon has been developed to help solve this puzzle.
Note that you can invite players to your party after the puzzle has been solved, and they too can loot the chest containing the monocle.
Blue Crystal Monocle - complete the letter puzzle. You will need to read letters located all over Azeroth.
Letter #1 - Shattrath at 65,69 behind Griftah.
Letter #2 - Highmountain at 57.41, 27.91 on top a wood crate.
Letter #3 - Karazhan raid on a table in Medivh's Chambers.
Letter #4 - Razorfen Downs at the end of the instance on a table.
Letter #5 - Mount Hyjal at 44.41, 46.65 at the top of the tree.
Letter #6 - Icecrown at 70.73, 73.35 near the border of Crystalsong Forest.
Letter #7 - Townlong Steppes at 37.7, 63 near the base of the structure.
Go to Borean Tundra to the top of The Nexus and loot the Gift from Ms. Graham at 27.45, 27.12 to acquire the Blue Crystal Monocle.
Step 3 - Disabling the Suramar Beams. In Suramar at 41, 69.5 there are four colored beams, one for each monocle.
There are also 4 withered NPCs that correspond to each beam / monocle.
Rikei (red) located at 71.86, 62.57
Blom’an (blue) located at 46.89, 28.61.
Giluzui (green) located at 19.95, 46.39.
Yorilan (yellow) located at 43.58, 81.82.
Each member of your party must be at a different withered, equipped with the corresponding colored monocle. Equipping the monocle will make the withered hostile to you. The remaining player will stand by the doorway with the colored beams.
Bringing the withered down to 1% HP (be careful not to kill them) will cause it to cast Draw Energy. This will cause that withered’s color beam to briefly be removed from the doorway.
The 4 members of your group handling the withered must carefully time bringing the NPCs down to 1%, while the fifth player stands near the doorway, waiting to go in.
Once all beams are down, the 5th player must quickly get to the dresser and interact with the Lost Cat Toy.
This will cause the player to be teleported out and take damage. Make note of the amount of damage taken, as this is required to complete the next step.
Step 4 - Lady Chaton in the Court of Stars Take the entire group to Lady Chaton in the Court of Stars. There are numerous manakittens that can be pet. Each time you pet a kitten it gets a stack of Purring for 15 seconds.
The damage the 5th player in your party took when getting teleported out of the Suramar room is the number of stacks you must apply to different cats.
The order of the cats compared to the damage taken is Fluffy, Shadow, Mew, Ash and Bella. For example, if the player in your group took 15904 damage then you would need 1 stack on Fluffy, 5 stacks on Shadow, 9 stacks on Mew, 0 stacks on Ash and 4 stacks on Bella.
If the damage taken was only 4 digits long, ignore Fluffy.
If the damage taken was only 3 digits long, Ignore Fluffy and Shadow.
Make sure to start with the cat that has the highest stacks needed, as the stacks quickly drop after 15 seconds.
Once all necessary cats have their required stacks, and orb will appear. Click it to be teleported to the next puzzle.
Step 5 - The Jumping Puzzle All five players will need to get to the other side of the room through the jumping puzzle. This can take some time, and the exact method is still being worked out, but it can be brute forced so keep trying until you all get across.
Check the Warcraft Secrets guide for tips and videos on this step.
With all five players across, walk up to the door together. All players must wait at the door for it to open.
Final Step - The Arcane Crossing Stand near the top step and wait for the floating disc to fly toward you.
Click it to attempt to mount on it.
Only a few party members will be able to fly on it together at any one time.
The trick to this step is to find the people in your group that are able to cross together. One person will be able to cross with anyone, while others will only be able to cross with specific party members. User Raere posted a helpful image on the WoW Secret Finding Discord.
Use raid target icons to identify who is able to cross together.
This is a take on the classic "farmer, fox, chicken and corn" river crossing riddle.
Players will have to go back and forth multiple times until everyone makes it to the finish. Once all players are across, stand at the door and wait for it to open.
Surrounding The Hivemind are five shadowy pools. Each member must stand in a different pool and click on The Hivemind.
Once all players channel their spell at the same time, the mount will be yours!
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Elixir of Tongues Live, Upcoming Tuning, Q&A Feedback, A Message From Heroes Team AWC and MDI Competitive Rulings
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
The World of Warcraft Arena World Championship (AWC) and Mythic Dungeon Invitational (MDI) programs operate via official rulesets, which were established in order to set expectations around the rules of tournament play and structure, player eligibility, points, prizes, sponsorships, and player conduct. All players accept these rules in order to participate in our tournaments and are expected to abide by them at all times.
We take all violations seriously. This page will be updated as new competitive rulings are issued. Simon "Boetar" Heinks
2018 AWC Ruleset
6.1(a) - Misconduct outside tournament venue
Suspension (01/01/2019 - 12/31/2019)
Patch 8.1 Hotfixes - December 14, 2018
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Classes
Hunter (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Marksmanship Double Tap will no longer be immediately consumed for no benefit if it is activated while channeling Rapid Fire. Dungeons and Raids Grievous should no longer stack to 2 on the first periodic.
Increasing damage of Bursting to 7% per tick (was 5%).
Atal’Dazar Removed Infested from several stationary enemies in the instance.
Kings’ Rest Adjusted spawns of Teeming in the instance immediately before and after the Golden Serpent.
Animated Guardian’s Released Inhibitors only increases Melee haste.
Lowered duration of King A’akul’s Hidden Blade to 4 seconds (was 8 seconds.
Lowered Embalming Fluid DoT duration to 6 seconds (was 10 seconds).
Lowered Golden Serpent’s Animated Gold health by 75%.
Lowered Guard Captain Atu’s Axe Barrage to 6 seconds (was 10 seconds).
Queen Patlaa’s Dark Shot changed. It now takes 1.5 seconds to land.
Reduced Spectral Berserker Severing Blade damage by 25%.
Seneschal M’bara is now level 120 and is susceptible to crowd control.
Spectral Berserker is now level 120 and is susceptible to crowd control.
Motherlode Adjusted spawns of Teeming in the instance.
Reduced Venture Co. Mastermind Leech Globule healing by 50%
Increased Feckless Assistant Transfiguration Serum recast to 20 seconds (was 10 seconds).
Reduced Weapon Testers Echo Blade damage by 50%.
Reduced damage of Venture Co. Earthshaper’s Rock Lance by 25%.
Reduced Recast of Earthshaper’s Earth Shield to 20 seconds (was 10 seconds).
Wanton Sapper casts Final Blast at 10% health (was at 20%).
Sethrallis Increased recast of Healing Wave cast by Charged Dust Devil to 16 seconds (was 10 seconds).
Reduced duration of Sandswept Marksman Neurotoxin to 4 seconds (was 8 seconds).
Faithless Tender’s Greater Heal is now single target.
Reduced melee damage of Faithless Conscript by 70%.
Increased respawn of Faithless Conscripts to 50 seconds (was 60 seconds).
Shrine of the Storm Lowered damage of Temple Attendant’s Wash Away by 25%.
Wash Away no longer hits pets and guardians.
Runecarver Sorn’s Carve Flesh initial damage reduced by 75%, but is now increased by 70% per tick.
Increased recast on Drowned Depthbringer’s Rip Mind to 16 seconds (was 8 seconds).
Removed Infested from the Living Current before Aqu’sirr.
Siege of Boralus Reduced damage of Blacktar Bomber’s Burning Tar initial damage by 50% and Fire Bomb by 25%.
Adjusted spawns of Teeming and Infested in the instance.
Increased cast time of Ashvane Commander’s Bolstering Shout to 5 seconds (was 3 seconds).
Reduced Hadal Darkfathom’s Break Water unavoidable damage by 25%.
Reduced range on Bilge Rat Demolisher Terrifying Roar to 10 yards (was 30 yards), and added a precast visual.
Tol Dagor The Sand Queen’s Buzzing Drone no longer melees, but casts Itchy Bite much more frequently.
Ashvane Marine’s Suppression Fire initial damage removed, but periodic damage immediately deals damage.
Overseer Korgus Incendariy Rounds no longer stacks.
Heavy Cannon’s Cannon Blast damage should now scale with the Keystone Level of the dungeon.
The Underrot Increased recast on Devout Blood Priest abilities.
Reduced Fanatical Headhunter Barbed Spear duration to 4 seconds (was 8 seconds).
Reduced duration of Warcry to 8 seconds (was 30 seconds).
Elder Leaxa will now only spawn one Blood Mirror clone.
Waycrest Manor Deathtouched Slaver is now susceptible to Stun.
Maddened Survivalist Freezing Trap is now Magic.
Uldir Fixed a bug with the way Fetid Devourer uses his walk. No time to talk.
Island Expeditions Resolved an issue in Jorundall that could cause the Southsea Pirate invasion to spawn a pirate ship in Fatigue waters. Items Players are now able to purchase Elixir of Tongues from Lizzi Liverzapper. Using and applying the potion will allow players to be able to understand the opposite faction.
Captain's Signet of Command is now item level 395 (was 380) to match its Horde counterpart.
Scouting Maps should again show up on the Honorbound and 7th Legion vendors and display the Pathfinder requirement to buy it if you do not have that achievement yet.
Fixed an issue where Cloak of the Restless Tribes was not scaling properly after exiting a Timewalking dungeon.
Player versus Player
Monk Wind Waker will put a spell visual on the Monk when an ally triggers it.
Paladin Ultimate Retribution will now cancel when Divine Shield or Blessing of Protection is applied.
World Quests It is now raining additional mana for the Nazmir Assault World Quests "It's Raining Mana" and "Untapped Potential".
View the full article

Season 15 End/Season 16 Start Dates Rastakhan's Rumble Legendary Cards Worth Your Dust A Message From Production Director Kaéo Milker Overwatch Winter Wonderland Patch - Skins, Nerfs & Buffs Elixir of Tongues Hotfix Live
The Elixir of Tongues is now for sale on Fizzi Liverzapper.
Upcoming Tuning Adjustments - December 18
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
With scheduled maintenance next week on 19 December, we’re focusing on shoring up a couple of specs that fell a little behind with Tides of Vengeance: Druid (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator) Feral Damage of all abilities increased by 7%. Mage (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator) Frost Damage of all spells increased by 3%.
Both of these adjustments will apply to PvP activities as well.
Developer Q&A Feedback
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
I know he more then likely didn’t word it right but…It honestly sounds like they only take analysis data into consideration and not their player base…
Which would actually explained a ton about the sate of the current game, class design, and how poor of a state BFA launched…
That Q&A was hard to watch
I guess you’d be surprised just how much we do read and do listen but that doesn’t mean we do knee-jerk reactions to whatever someone says. We do miss things and do make mistakes, we are still human (unfortunately?), but we do try to consider the implications that changes will have for all player types. We, the World of Warcraft community, are a mass of individuals and not a hive mind. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
If you have additional questions or topics to discuss feel free to share those. If there were specific questions you felt weren’t important, please specify those. Keep in mind that what you are wanting answered and what is important to you can easily be different to others… many others. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
A Message From Heroes Production Director Kaéo Milker
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker)
Yesterday, we announced a difficult decision—the HGC will not be returning in 2019 and we’ll be transitioning some Heroes of the Storm developers to our other game teams. While our extended Blizzard family working on World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch, and our unannounced projects will be getting an influx of much-needed, extremely talented Heroes devs to help them achieve their goals, it also means that we’ll need to change the cadence of support for Heroes going forward.
So, I’m sad. I’m sad because I love this team and this game that we’ve built together, with all of you, and this past year has been such a great one for Heroes of the Storm. The HGC had its best year yet and I was so looking forward to the 2019 season. On the game side, we’ve had a steady stream of some of the most sought-after heroes, amazing themed events, and impactful reworks. We also made meaningful progress on improving core systems and features across the game. We truly hit our stride in 2018, so I’m disappointed that some of the exciting plans we had for 2019 will have to change.
But all is not lost. The team that remains dedicated to Heroes of the Storm is a veritable Who’s Who of developers who have been driving every facet of the game from the very beginning—from people you know and have seen speak publicly about the game for years, to those who have poured their hearts into it from behind the scenes. In short, we’re continuing to develop the game with an incredible team that has the experience and passion required to support Heroes of the Storm well into the future.
The Heroes of the Storm team and I also have a unique opportunity to rethink things and reprioritize. Because now more than ever, our charge is to focus on taking care of you, our players, and to channel all our energy into keeping the game dynamic and fun. This means we’re still committed to regular hero reworks, themed events, and even new heroes. We’re setting our sights on the new goals and timelines for what we want to do with the game from here on out and we’re eager to share those plans as soon as they’re finalized.
So, I’m also excited. I’m excited for my teammates to bring their hard-won experience from making this game to the other teams at Blizzard to help their games be even better. And I’m especially excited for Heroes of the Storm to continue evolving with a renewed focus and purity of purpose.
Thank you for joining us on the journey so far, and please bear with us through these changes. Your feedback is as critical as ever, and continues to guide our priorities and decisions while helping us be better along the way.
Thank you,
Kaéo
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Developer Q&A - Ion Hazzikostas
Ion Hazzikostas will be answering your Tides of Vengeance questions today.
Click to load chat
Communication Patch notes were thorough, but not complete.
Profession requirements on crafted gear wasn't an intended change in the form it took.
Patch 8.0 crafted gear didn't have the profession requirement like previous expansions, this was fixed as being a bug without the entire team being involved. This was fixed as soon as the team realized what happened.
Going forward, in Season 2 crafted gear will have the profession requirement.
Some changes would clutter the notes, like belt clipping or typos.
Some changes were missed, such as Stealth detection on Underrot mobs. This change was made a while back, and the team forgot by the time the notes were being created.
Going forward, the team will try to ensure the notes are more complete.
One of the challenges for the WoW team has been evolving their processes as the team size grew. It used to be 5-6 people working on a certain feature, so everyone was aware of what was going on. This is no longer the case, as more people that are spread out are involved with the game.
The team wants to provide more reasoning in hotfix or patch notes when changes are made. They have been trying to do that for class changes, but will do it for more things in the future.
View the full article

HGC and Heroes of the Dorm 2019 Cancelled, Some Developers Switching Teams The new single player Hearthstone experience Rastakhan's Rumble Run is live! World Of Warcraft: Greek Community Q&A with Ion Hazzikostas Game Director of World of Warcraft, Ion Hazzikostas, answered some previously submitted questions from the Greek World of Warcraft Community. Video courtesy of Enternity.gr.
Mythic+ Dungeons Ideally each path of endgame progression will have unique benefits and rewards.
Gear swapping in Mythic+ is something the team thought about changing during Legion, but didn't want to do in the middle of an expansion.
The team views a Mythic+ dungeon like a single boss encounter, which is why you can't change talents or respec in the middle of the dungeon. Choices are more interesting when you are weighing the entire range of situations that the dungeon is going to offer.
If you are just gearing for a specific boss or pull, those choices are fairly easy. You just collect the right gear and set up macros to swap as you go.
Your gameplay should be more important than having the right gear swapping macros set up.
PvP The team would like to have space in the game for sustained pressure, with DoT classes wearing down the healers, giving a burst class a chance to jump in and get the kill. Weakness in one area should be made up with strengths in another. If you are less mobile, you should be harder to kill. If you have high mobility, you should probably go down more easily if people are able to focus on you.
The team would rather focus on increasing strengths rather than mitigating weaknesses. Always bolstering weaknesses makes everyone more average at everything.
Stat Squish The team doesn't think they will need to do another stat squish for another expansion, and certainly not during this one.
With the work that the team has done for the Battle for Azeroth stat squish, it should be easier to do it in the future, with far fewer bugs and issues. The team did a one time rework of every creature and ability in the game for Battle for Azeroth, converting them to a system that allows an easy 30% nerf under the hood. Now it is just changing one number and everything should just work.
Stat squishes help to keep numbers from getting out of control while still providing for power gain over an expansion.
The team doesn't have a great solution to avoid having to do stat squishes in the future.
The Return of Classic Buffs There is something nice about getting buffed up before a pull, it's almost ceremonial. It feels like you are powering up to go into a fight.
The buffs also have a social element and make people stronger in a raid than they would be on their own.
The buffs also gave some classes that could use some extra utility an extra reason to be brought.
Paladins and Druids traditionally had raid buffs, but in the Battle for Azeroth environment, they already had plenty of utility.
The team would rather focus on the unique and strong utility that Druids and Paladins already bring rather than adding more buffs if they feel that there isn't incentive to bring these classes.
Loot Systems Loot used to be much harder to come by, with guilds clearing old bosses over and over because loot was rarer.
Drop rates are now higher, there is personal loot, trading loot, bonus rolls, and other opportunities to get loot. The team expects players will get the loot that they want from a raid within a couple of months of doing that tier.
It's very rare to actually go a meaningful amount of time into a raid tier without getting the items that you want.
Warforging and Titanforging add some level of interest to repeated clears of a raid.
You might have been doing Uldir for a couple of months at this point. There is still a chance to earn something interesting and gain more power to keep progressing in the raid.
The team doesn't want players to feel obligated to go back and clear lower difficulties every week for the rare chance that something might be an upgrade.
Most players aren't feeling forced to go back and clear lower difficulties anymore. In Legion, set pieces were a reason to go back to try and get upgrades, but the game has moved away from tier sets.
It's up to players to choose where to spend their time, and what is most rewarding. You are better off doing Mythic+ than going back to lower raid difficulties for a slim chance at an upgrade.
Personal Loot Overall, the team is happy with how Personal Loot is working out so far.
The best geared raid groups are still the ones doing the hardest content.
The benefits to removing personal loot are three things: On the lower end, there are lots of guilds that churn through a steady stream of trials. Historically, guilds wouldn't give trials any loot, causing them to not have any progression.
On the highest end, there are guilds running multiple groups in parallel that would funnel loot to specific characters using Master Loot. This made it 4-5x faster to gear up compared to regular groups that were just doing one run. This led to more and more guilds to start running split raids.
Split raids made it difficult to balance raids for everyone, as the top end guilds were overgeared compared to average guilds.
If you want to be competitive and try for the Top 100, you can just focus on gearing up your main roster and maybe some backups rather than running split raids.
The team is able to itemize differently with Personal Loot. With Master Loot, the team had to design loot tables that didn't have niche items that would only be useful to a spec or two. Now the team can better cater to a wider range of itemization, with more fist weapons, range weapons, shields, and more.
For tight knit social groups that weren't abusing any of this, there is something that was lost with these changes.
The change for the game as a whole is a step in the right direction. Once you are past the first few weeks of a new raid tier, tradability helps offset these changes.
The team is trying to make item level a better guide for what is an upgrade.
Personal Loot is here to stay, so let's talk about how we can improve it rather than rolling it back to Master Loot.
Ranked PvP Battle for Azeroth Ranked PvP has worked out well so far, as there is a clear progression system.
Unranked PvP isn't a hardcore and competitive environment, it is more relaxed.
Solo queue isn't a great fit for WoW because the game is very composition dependent.
When you make a Heroes or Overwatch team, players can switch what they are playing to build the right composition.
Having good matchmaking with reasonable queue times, a good skill level match, and building reasonable compositions doesn't seem possible to achieve. It would either be very long queue times or wild mismatches in skill / compositions.
The team is focused on improving the social tools in the game to make it easier for players to join groups of like minded folks. This also is a more social experience, which is something the team tries to emphasize whenever possible as an MMO.
Raid Difficulties The difficulty structure that the team has settled on is the right one for World of Warcraft.
For someone that does Mythic, both Normal and Raid Finder seem like they are the same, but they are serving very different audiences.
Normal is for a mix of friends and family groups, and pick-up-groups. There are plenty of groups that spend an entire tier progressing through Normal difficulty. This is a satisfying and rewarding experience for those groups.
Raid Finder doesn't provide a satisfying social or progressive experience.
In Mists, Normal was similar to Heroic difficulty today. Groups would find Raid Finder to be unsatisfying and asocial, but Normal was too difficult.
Raid Finder is for people that don't want to commit to a schedule or raid group. If you have some free time, you can jump in, check out the story, get some gear for your alt, finish a quest, and enjoy a bite sized chunk. It's not meant to be a lasting social experience, just a chance to experience raid content and an alternative progression path.
It isn't possible to merge both of those experiences without heavily disappointing one group.
Heroic is for more organized groups that value performance and class composition.
Mythic is for players that want to do that at the very highest level.
Hopefully groups feel like they can focus on two difficulties. Mythic raiders aren't going back to Normal.
30 item levels per tier is the right number assuming players are doing two tiers. The gap allows for progression and getting meaningfully more powerful. Heroic of next tier has to beat Mythic of the previous tier.
Professions With every expansion, the team has changed their approach to professions.
Delivery mechanisms for recipes and ways for crafters to differentiate themselves from each other change.
What makes one Blacksmith different from another? One can make something that the other can't.
A lot of the differentiation was accomplished through rarity. A lucky drop gave players a reward.
A world where everyone can make steady progress towards making everything harms the ability for a crafter to have an economic advantage. All crafters are basically the same thing.
If you never get the thing you want, that would be frustrating, maybe some bad luck protection would help.
You may not get Rank 3 of what you really want, but you might get Rank 3 for another recipe that will give you a different economic advantage.
If you spend time being better at a progression, that should come with some economic and power advantages. The team isn't quite there yet.
Hotfixes: December 13, 2018
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Classes
Druid (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Restoration
Ursol's Vortex is learned at level 28 (was 63).
Hunter (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Survival Fixed an issue causing Mongoose Fury to incorrectly apply new stacks before the damage from Mongoose Bite was dealt, instead of after.
Items
Heart of Azeroth (Elemental Shaman) Fixed an issue that sometimes caused Echo of the Elementals to summon two Ember Elementals after Fire Elemental expired. Player versus Player
Alterac Valley Fixed a bug that caused players to be unable to spawn at Stonehearth Graveyard after dying.
Death Knight (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Frostwhelp's Indignation (Azerite trait) now correctly damages players in addition to granting mastery.
Raise Abomination will now correctly attack neutral creatures if the player is in combat with them.
Priest (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Discipline Fixed a bug that prevented Trinity from providing additional critical strike chance to Smite, Penance, and Shadowfiend.
Fixed a bug that caused Trinity to stop applying Atonement to targets after 3 are active.
Warlock (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Affliction Fixed a bug that caused Gateway Mastery to reduce the duration of the Demonic Gateway debuff by more than 15 seconds.
Quests (With server restarts in each region) Fixed a bug that caused repeatable quests, such as Pet Battle dailies or Blingtron, to reset incorrectly.
Fixed an issue where Alliance players could not turn in "An End to the Killing" to King Anduin Wrynn in Stormwind if they were also on the quest "On Whispered Winds".
All NPCs related to “The Right Mech for the Job” should now be visible, even when a Faction Assault is active.
Fixed an issue where certain players could see multiple copies of Anduin, Velen, and Genn in the Stormwind War Room.
World Quests Fixed an issue where Horde players could not complete the quest "Cease all Summoning" while the Nazmir Assault is active.
Fixed a bug where players were sometimes not granted quest credit during “Desert Crawl”.
Fixed a bug that prevented Blight Barrels from behaving properly on “Barreling Through”.
Baron Cloudsnipe will no longer chase players in Pozzik's Experimental Bomber to the ends of the earth on “Romp in the Swamp”. He's still a crack shot, though.
HGC and Heroes of the Dorm 2019 Cancelled, Some Developers Switching Teams
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker)
We’re constantly changing and evolving not only our games, but how we support and grow them. This evolution is vital to our ability to continue doing what we love to do—making great games—and it’s what makes Blizzard, Blizzard.
Over the past several years, the work of evaluating our development processes and making hard decisions has led to new games and other products that we’re proud of. We now have more live games and unannounced projects than at any point in the company’s history. We’re also at a point where we need to take some of our talented developers and bring their skills to other projects. As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to shift some developers from Heroes of the Storm to other teams, and we’re excited to see the passion, knowledge, and experience that they’ll bring to those projects. This isn’t the first time we’ve had to make tough choices like this. Games like Diablo II, World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Overwatch, and more would not exist had we not made similar decisions in the past.
Despite the change, Heroes of the Storm remains our love letter to Blizzard’s worlds and characters. We’ll continue actively supporting the game with new heroes, themed events, and other content that our community loves, though the cadence will change. Ultimately, we’re setting up the game for long-term sustainability. We’re so grateful for the support the community has shown from the beginning, and the development team will continue to support Heroes with the same passion, dedication, and creativity that has made the game such a unique experience.
We’ve also evaluated our plans around Heroes esports—after looking at all of our priorities and options in light of the change with the game, the Heroes Global Championship and Heroes of the Dorm will not return in 2019. This was another very difficult decision for us to make. The love that the community has for these programs is deeply felt by everyone who works on them, but we ultimately feel this is the right decision versus moving forward in a way that would not meet the standards that players and fans have come to expect.
While we don’t make these decisions lightly, we do look to the future excited about what the decisions will mean for our other live games and all the projects we have in the works. We appreciate all of our hard-working developers and everyone in the Blizzard community, and look forward to sharing many more epic gaming experiences with you in the future.
J. Allen Brack and Ray Gresko
View the full article

See Rumble Run Early With Blizzard and Alliestrasza This Thursday Event: Toys, toys, toys! Overwatch Winter Wonderland Patch - Skins, Nerfs & Buffs Azerite Knowledge Catch-Up Mechanic
It looks like we will see more Azerite Knowledge begin increasing again on January 22 with the released of Season 2 Azerite items.
Patch 8.1.0 Hotfixes - December 12, 2018
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Classes
Monk (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Windwalker
Good Karma no longer incorrectly increases Touch of Karma's absorption. Dungeons and Raids
Uldir
Vectis Fixed a bug causing Vectis to cast an extra Contagion prior to casting Liquefy. Items Scouting maps that teach flight paths to your alts have returned to the Honorbound and 7th Legion vendors.
Island Flotsam will now correctly change to Dented Coins when a Horde character changes to Alliance.
Dented Coins will now correctly change to Island Flotsam when an Alliance character swaps to Horde.
Heart of Azeroth Fixed a bug that caused damage effects such as Laser Matrix and Ricocheting Inflatable Pyrosaw to target enemies that were crowd-controlled.
Good Karma no longer incorrectly increases Touch of Karma's absorption.
Healing from Glimmer of Light is now correctly modified by Mastery: Lightbringer.
Echoing Blades’ Fan of Knives explosion now always critically hits. Its base damage has been reduced by 75%. Developers’ note: This change allows the trait to scale with the talent Master Assassin in a more reasonable way. The total reduction of the Echo comes out to around 50%, with some variance depending on your Critical Strike chance.
Missions Fixed a bug that caused Treasure Map missions to expire in 8 hours. They now expire in 72 hours. Developers’ note: This won’t affect missions that are currently in a player’s mission list, only newly-created missions. Professions Reverted yesterday's change to require Profession skill for using high iLvl crafted items.
A number of recipes have been adjusted so that the expulsom required by the recipe matches the amount of explusom returned when you scrapped the crafted item.
Player versus Player Fixed a bug that caused players who have earned seasonal Gladiator achievements in Legion: Season 5 and Battle for Azeroth: Season 1 to not earn the Gladiator achievement.
Death Knight (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Unholy Fixed an issue that caused the Zombie summoned by Reanimation (PvP Talent) to have more health than 5.
Fixed a bug that caused Necrotic Strike's initial damage to not be increased by Mastery: Dreadblade.
Fixed a bug that could cause Necrotic Strike to apply too large of a healing absorb against non-player targets.
Fixed a bug that caused the heal generated by Life and Death (PvP Talent) to be a critical heal.
Fixed a bug that caused the heal of Life and Death to be larger than 10% of a heal cast on a target with your Festering Wound.
Paladin (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Holy Cleanse the Weak will no longer incorrectly cause Cleanse to go on cooldown when it removes effects from friendly targets.
Retribution
Templar's Verdict and Divine Storm no longer deal reduced damage to enemy players.
Priest (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Discipline Resolved an issue that caused Power Word: Shield's value to be lower than intended when engaged in combat with enemy players.
Power Word: Shield absorbs an additional 10% when engaged in combat with enemy players. Developers’ note: Shadow Priests’ Power Word: Shield was unaffected by the above and is unchanged.
Shadow Fixed a bug that caused Greater Fade to be removed by Shadowy Apparitions.
Rogue (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator) Fixed a bug that caused Vanish to end before the normal duration when taking damage and harmful effects.
Assassination, Subtlety Fixed a bug that caused Subterfuge to not be applied when attacking during Vanish.
World Quests Captured Zandalari no longer knockback NPCs during “Azerite Mining”.
Fixed an issue where Fozruk can sometimes fail to grant you World Quest credit.
Fixed a bug that could remove a player from their manasaber mount on “Ley Race”.
Patch 8.1 - Undocumented Changes
Our friends at Wowpedia have a nice list of some of the changes that aren't in the patch notes.
FinalBossTV #176 - State of Tanking in Battle for Azeroth
This week FinalBossTV talked to Max, Shakib & Munkky about the state of Tanks in Battle for Azeroth right before Patch 8.1.
View the full article

Patch 8.1 - Tides of Vengeance Live Today Patch 8.1 - Tides of Vengeance Trailer and Key Art
Blizzard released the patch trailer today, along with some screenshots and key art!
Patch 8.1 - Mythic Zul: 5% Health Nerf
Blizzard is hotfixing Mythic Zul to reduce his health by 5% to compensate for the removal of Shuriken Combo.
View the full article

Patch 8.1 - Tides of Vengeance Live Today
Patch 8.1 - Tides of Vengeance is live today! Class Changes
New and Updated Azerite Powers - Patch 8.1 continues to improve the Azerite Power system with changes to existing powers and a plethora of new ones added to the available options!
Mythic Plus Azerite Armor Vendor - Thaumaturge Vashreen in each capital city sells Mythic Plus Azerite Armor caches and specific pieces for the new currency, Titan Residuum.
Spells Being Taken off the Global Cooldown - Several abilities are being removed from the global cooldown!.
New Warfront - Battle for Darkshore - This warfront continues the story of the Night Elves after the loss of Teldrassil and their fight to reclaim Darkshore from Horde control.
Warfront Rewards Vendor - Learn more about the new warfront vendor.
Warfront World Quests - Learn more about the new Warfronts world quests.
Night Warrior Scenario - Preview the Night Warrior Scenario and the new Night Warrior cosmetic options for Night Elves!
Fate of Saurfang Quest Chain - The story of Saurfang continues in this patch.
Faction Assaults - Learn about the new Faction Assaults, similar to the Legion Invasions!
Paragon Reputations for Battle for Azeroth Factions - Paragon reputations make a return!
Horde and Alliance War Campaigns Continue - Learn about the continuation of the war campaign.
Blood Elf and Dwarf Heritage Armor - Learn about the new Heritage armor for Blood Elves and Dwarves.
New Island Expeditions and Changes - Changes, additions, and a reward vendor added for Island Expeditions.
New Pet Battle Dungeon - Gnomeregan - Learn a little bit about the new battle pet dungeon.
New Paladin Spell Animations - New animations added for paladins.
Leveling Changes - Reduced experience to level!
War Mode Buff Changes - New incentives for the minority faction.
Account Wide Quality of Life Alt Changes - Account wide transmog reputation, Heart of Azeroth levels, and flight paths.
Mounts - Patch 8.1 adds a bunch of new mounts to obtain.
Profession Updates and Changes - New stuff for professions.
Miscellaneous Changes and Additions - Solo LFR Legion raids, new hunter pets, music and more!
What is Not Coming This Week?
Certain things will unlock on January 22, 2019 and a few things are a little further off than that!
January 22, 2019
The Battle for Dazar'alor Raid - New raid! January 22 — Normal and Heroic Difficulties
January 29 — Mythic and Raid Finder Wing 1
February 12 — Raid Finder Wing 2
February 26 — Raid Finder Wing 3
PvP Season 2 - Season 1 will end and 2 will begin.
Mythic Keystone Dungeon Season 2 - A new affix and higher item level rewards with a 5th azerite ring
Future
Crucible of Storms Raid - A two boss raid in Stormsong Valley.
Kul Tiran Human and Zandalari Troll Allied Races - Two new allied races.
New and Updated Azerite Powers
Patch 8.1 continues to improve the Azerite Power system with changes to existing powers and a plethora of new ones added to the available options!
Mythic Plus Azerite Armor Vendor
Thaumaturge Vashreen in each capital city sells Mythic Plus Azerite Armor caches and specific pieces for the new currency, Titan Residuum. Titan Residuum is rewarded from your mythic plus cache or breaking down Azerite Armor pieces at the scrapbot. Item Level 355 Cache - 15 Titan Residuum
Item Level 370 Cache - 50 Titan Residuum
Item Level 385 Cache - 165 Titan Residuum
Specific Item Level 385 Piece - 675 Titan Residuum
Class Guides
Icy Veins is ready to go with updated class guides!
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Death Knight
Skills
Talent Calculator
Class Forum
Blood Death Knight Guide for 8.1
Frost Death Knight Guide for 8.1
Unholy Death Knight Guide for 8.1
BfA Death Knight Leveling Guide
Demon Hunter
Skills
Talent Calculator
Class Forum
Havoc Demon Hunter Guide for 8.1
Vengeance Demon Hunter Guide for 8.1
BfA Demon Hunter Leveling Guide
Druid
Skills
Talent Calculator
Class Forum
Balance Druid Guide for 8.1
Feral Druid Guide for 8.1
Guardian Druid Guide for 8.1
Restoration Druid Guide for 8.1
BfA Druid Leveling Guide
Hunter
Skills
Talent Calculator
Class Forum
Beast Mastery Hunter Guide for 8.1
Marksmanship Hunter Guide for 8.1
Survival Hunter Guide for 8.1
BfA Hunter Leveling Guide
Mage
Skills
Talent Calculator
Class Forum
Arcane Mage Guide for 8.1
Fire Mage Guide for 8.1
Frost Mage Guide for 8.1
BfA Mage Leveling Guide
Monk
Skills
Talent Calculator
Class Forum
Brewmaster Monk Guide for 8.1
Mistweaver Monk Guide for 8.1
Windwalker Monk Guide for 8.1
BfA Monk Leveling Guide
Paladin
Skills
Talent Calculator
Class Forum
Holy Paladin Guide for 8.1
Protection Paladin Guide for 8.1
Retribution Paladin Guide for 8.1
BfA Paladin Leveling Guide
Priest
Skills
Talent Calculator
Class Forum
Discipline Priest Guide for 8.1
Holy Priest Guide for 8.1
Shadow Priest Guide for 8.1
BfA Priest Leveling Guide
Rogue
Skills
Talent Calculator
Class Forum
Assassination Rogue Guide for 8.1
Outlaw Rogue Guide for 8.1
Subtlety Rogue Guide for 8.1
BfA Rogue Leveling Guide
Shaman
Skills
Talent Calculator
Class Forum
Elemental Shaman Guide for 8.1
Enhancement Shaman Guide for 8.1
Restoration Shaman Guide for 8.1
BfA Shaman Leveling Guide
Warlock
Skills
Talent Calculator
Class Forum
Affliction Warlock Guide for 8.1
Demonology Warlock Guide for 8.1
Destruction Warlock Guide for 8.1
BfA Warlock Leveling Guide
Warrior
Skills
Talent Calculator
Class Forum
Arms Warrior Guide for 8.1
Fury Warrior Guide for 8.1
Protection Warrior Guide for 8.1
BfA Warrior Leveling Guide
Spells Being Taken off the Global Cooldown
Several abilities are being removed from the global cooldown!
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker)
I believe it was Ion that said in a dev chat movement abilities were coming back off the GCD. So is this actually happening?
This is something that is still happening. Here is the list I have so far of abilities that are for sure coming off the GCD: Havoc - Vengeful Retreat
All Druids - Wild Charge
Arms - Charge
Fury - Charge
Protection Warrior - Ignore Pain
Protection Warrior – Intercept
Protection Warrior (PvP) – Dragon Charge
Survival – Harpoon (Source)
Well that’s nice I guess, what about all the other categories?
This is just what we have confirmed so far. There could potentially be more added to the list, but I personally just don’t know of any others yet.
We’d love to hear from you guys on more examples of abilities that you feel should be off the GCD and why. (Source)
New Warfront - Battle for Darkshore
A new warfront is being introduced to go alongside with the Battle for Stromgarde. This warfront continues the story of the Night Elves after the loss of Teldrassil and their fight to reclaim Darkshore from Horde control. Check out our preview below and for more information on how the cycle will work, refer to Blizzard's official preview!
Warfront Rewards Vendor
Patch 8.1 adds a new currency called 7th Legion Service Medal / Honorbound Service Medal. These are acquired from Warfronts as well as Incursion World quests and can be spent at a vendor near your Warfront table in your capital city.
Warfront World Quests
Arathi Highlands now has a variety of world quests added to it instead of just the world boss quest. In addition, Darkshore also has many world quests. These are most likely available to the faction in control of the map.
Night Warrior Scenario
The Night Warrior scenario is a new series of quests that advances the story of the Night Elves after the events of the Burning of Teldrassil. Both Horde and Alliance have separate scenarios to tell the sides to the story. Alliance venture into Darkshore with Tyrande while the Horde attempt to resurrect fallen Night Elves with Nathanos, culminating in a showdown that leads to the Darkshore Warfront.
Night Warrior Night Elf Customization Options
Completing the Night Warrior Scenario unlocks a new skin tone option for Night Elves that grants them darker purple skin and black eyes.
Fate of Saurfang Quest Chain
There is a new quest chain that continues the story of Saurfang from the point he is released by Anduin in the Lost Honor cinematic. This chain culminates in a choice that will have consequences in the future!
Faction Assaults
Much like the Legion Invasions from the Legion expansion, Tides of Vengeance adds new limited time world quests that cycle between each faction defending or attacking an area of Zuldazar or Kul Tiras. If your faction is defending, you finish the Faction Assault by completing four of the world quests and then attacking the opposing faction's air ship. These are also a new way to level alts as characters 110 or above can complete a Faction Assault and receive the Taste of Victory buff for an hour after completion.
Paragon Reputations for Battle for Azeroth Factions
The Paragon Reputation reward system is returning from Legion for the Battle for Azeroth factions. Every 10,000 reputation you earn past exalted will now reward you with a container that can contain fun rewards! In addition, contracts for the 7th Legion and Honorbound factions have finally been added.
Alliance Factions
7th legion - Rallying War Banner, Recipe: Contract: 7th Legion
Proudmoore Admiralty - Proudmoore Music Box, Albatross Feather
Order of Embers - Bewitching Tea Set, Cobalt Raven Hatchling
Storm's Wake - Violet Abyssal Eel, Technique: Glyph of Storm's Wake
Horde Factions
The Honorbound - Rallying War Banner, Recipe: Contract: The Honorbound
Zandalari Empire - Warbeast Kraal Dinner Bell
Talanji's Expedition - For da Blood God!, Pair of Tiny Bat Wings
The Voldunai - Goldtusk Inn Breakfast Buffet, Meerah's Jukebox, Words of Akunda
Neutral Factions
Tortollan Seekers - Bowl of Glowing Pufferfish, Kojo's Master Matching Set
Champions of Azeroth - Azerite Firework Launcher
Horde and Alliance War Campaigns Continue
Both the Horde and Alliance will be able to advance their war campaign with tons of new story content that leads up to the events of the new raid, the Battle for Dazar'alor. The large chunks of each story will likely continue in installments for the next month, with the PTR calendar having the part releases listed as follows:
December 11 - Part 1
December 18 - Part 2
January 8 - Part 3
January 22 - Part 4
January 29 - Part 5
Blood Elf and Dwarf Heritage Armor
Players with maximum-level (120) Blood Elves or Dwarves who are Exalted with their faction (Silvermoon City or Ironforge respectively) will be able to embark on a new quest line for each race to learn more about their history. Once you complete your quest, you’ll gain a new Heritage Armor transmog set unique to your race and be able to show off your pride. Click the banners below to learn more about the quest chains!
New Island Expeditions and Changes
Changes are being made to the way Island Expeditions function. Click the banner to see Blizzard's full preview! Highlights include: Two new islands - Havenswood and Jorundall
Two new events (akin to invasions currently)
Azerite Ruptures - Protect a device from waves of enemies
Azerite Extractors - Set up an extractor that will grant you azerite over time, but the enemy team can take it if not defended
More clustered NPCs for easier navigation
Seafarer's Dubloon Vendors in 8.1
Vendors have been added near the Island Expeditions Que Hub in both Boralus and Dazar'alor that offer a variety of rewards in exchange for your Seafarer's Dubloon.
Mysterious Treasure Map Reward
The World Quest to win 1 Island Expedition a week has been replaced with a new one that has you collect enough Azerite from Island Expeditions to receive a Mysterious Treasure Map. This item unlocks a rare mission at your mission table that rewards Azerite Power and either 5,000 gold or additional Azerite Power depending on the mission.
Island Expedition Rewards Update
Patch 8.1 will change Island Expedition rewards from being based on the NPCs you kill to the NPCs that are on the island.
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker)
In Tides of Vengeance, in addition to two new Island Expeditions, we’re making a number of adjustments and improvements to Islands. One of those changes will alter how various cosmetic rewards are determined, and we’d like to explain that further, as we promised here: https://twitter.com/WarcraftDevs/sta...80683058487297
Currently in Battle for Azeroth, Island Expeditions have a chance to reward cosmetic items based on which type of creatures you and your team defeated. For example, if the island theme of the week was Hozen, there’s a chance to receive one of the Banana toys. If the invaders were Nerubian, you could have a chance to receive the Voru’kar Leecher companion pet (among other things). They way this has worked is by means of a hidden scorecard that counted your group’s efforts against anything on the island that was part of the invaders’ ecology. So if anyone in the group earned some Azerite from killing invaders or mining Azerite near the invaders, everyone in the group had a chance at the cosmetic rewards. That chance grew based on how much invaders’ Azerite was obtained, and was also a higher chance in Heroic and even higher in Mythic difficulty Islands. We set the maximum chance you could earn at a reasonable threshold, in the hopes that players wouldn’t feel that they needed to only kill invaders and not complete the islands in a natural way.
Of course, that’s not how it worked out. Confusion around the best way to get cosmetics led to a divergence in playstyles, with some players wishing to focus exclusively on hunting specific creatures, while others wished to win the island efficiently to get Azerite. This caused a significant amount of tension between players who had differing goals.
In Tides of Vengeance, all players on an Expedition will have a chance to receive cosmetic rewards based on the island’s inhabitants, rather than which enemies were specifically defeated. That chance will again be higher on higher difficulties, but there will be no need to strategize around invaders. The most efficient way to receive cosmetic rewards will be whatever tactics cause you to complete the Island quickly, on the highest difficulty that you’re comfortable.
Thanks to everyone who has stormed our high seas with feedback on this. We really appreciate it.
New Pet Battle Dungeon - Gnomeregan
Another pet battle dungeon is being added in 8.1 with a variety of mechanical themed rewards to earn!
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
It’s time to martial your menagerie and put your best battle pets forward within the halls of Gnomeregan.
To get started on your journey, you’ll need to have earned the achievement All Growns Up!, which requires you to raise a pet to level 25. This will make a new quest available to you from Radek Fuselock, who is located near the pet battle trainers in Dazar’alor, or Tizzy Gearjolt, who is located just outside of Dana Pull’s shop in Hook Point in Boralus. You won’t need to complete the Wailing Caverns or Deadmines pet battle dungeons to gain access, and with the release of the Tides of Vengeance content update, you’ll be able to play the three pet battle dungeons in any order.
Completing the quest and pet battle dungeon the first time earns you an Ultimate Battle-Training Stone. You’ll also be able to avail yourself of Manapoof’s aid to teleport directly to Gnomeregan’s dungeon entrance as a part of the quest reward.
For those daring to push your team, you can take on the Challenge Mode version of the dungeon, which requires you to have at least 15 maximum-level battle pets. This will open an account-wide weekly quest that you can pick up from Micro Zoox, who’s waiting outside the Gnomeregan instance portal.
Completing the Challenge Mode the first time will grant the achievement Pet Battle Challenge: Gnomeregan, which rewards a Mini Spider Tank battle pet. Return each week to complete the quest and you’ll earn the reward Pristine Gizmo, which can be exchanged for items from Micro Zoox including an Unopened Gnomeregan Supply Box, Mechanical Cockroach, Schematic: Mechantula, Leper Rat Tail, and Rechargeable Alarm-O-Dog Battery.
Whether you’re new to pet battle dungeons or a companion-combat veteran, you’ll want to get in on the ongoing story as it unfolds. Who are the shadowy figures that keep appearing? What do they want? What are their nefarious plans? Discover what awaits your critter pals next in Gnomeregan!
New Paladin Spell Animations
Paladins are receiving visual updates to Avenging Wrath, Beacon of Light, Beacon of Virtue, Holy Light, and Light of Dawn!
Leveling Changes
The experience required to level from 1 to 110 has decreased substantially, with extremely small changes to the 110 to 120 experience. Click the banner to see just how much the experience has been lowered.
War Mode Buff Changes
War Mode is getting a buff to encourage mode people to participate in world PvP. The faction that is less represented in War Mode will get a Call to Arms buff for activating War Mode, increasing the 10% experience/rewards buff to 20% for the duration that your faction is the minority.
Account Wide Quality of Life Alt Changes
Alts will have it just a bit easier in Patch 8.1. Here are a few changes:
Account Wide Reputation Transmog Unlocks - As long as one character on your account has the necessary reputation requirements and unlocks completed, alts that meet the level requirements will be able to transmog certain tabards and armor pieces!
Account Wide Champions of Azeroth Neck Ilvl Unlock - As long as one character on your account has the necessary revered reputation requirement with Champions of Azeroth, alts that meet the level requirements will be able to complete the quests from Magni to upgrade their Heart of Azeroth!
Account Wide Flight Paths - As long as one character on your account has completed the Battle for Azeroth Pathfinder, Part One achievement, you can purchase 7th Legion Scouting Map or Honorbound Scouting Map to trade to alts and unlock all Kul Tiras/Zanadar flight paths!
New Mounts
Patch 8.1 adds quite a few new mounts! Click the banner to see them all!
Profession Updates and Changes
Many new recipes have been added this patch. Some highlights are below, with a look at all the new recipes by clicking the banner below.
Tidalcore is a new crafting material from Heroic and Mythic dungeons
Breath of Bwonsamdi - is a new crafting material from the Battle of Dazar'alor raid.
Recipe: Sanguinated Feast - New cooking recipe that creates Sanguinated Feast, which provides 100 in your main stat and uses Sanguicell.
Formula: Enchanted Tiki Mask - Enchanting recipe to make Enchanted Tiki Mask
New armor recipes for most professions that will likely be available on January 22nd when gear item level rewards increase.
Miscellaneous Changes and Additions
A variety of many other changes and additions have been made to the game. More World Quests have been added to Kul Tiras and Zandalar.
The reputation awarded for activities in Legion content for the Allied Race reputations has been increased.
100 Exalted Reputations progress is now account wide, however, each reputation and its faction equivalent only count once across all characters. Having multiple alts will not get you the achievement any faster.
Blood-Soaked Tome of Dark Whispers - Allows hunters to tame crawgs and other blood beasts.
Solo Queue for Legion Raids
Patch 8.1 adds the option to solo queue for wings of Legion Raid Finder difficulty raids to Archmage Timear in Broken Isles Dalaran.
Boralus Update
Boralus has received a small tweak to the area leading to the War Campaign boat. Currently, there is a small gate separating the stairs from the 7th Legion Quartermaster. This has been removed in Patch 8.1 and replaced with an open plank to jump on from the stairs. The quartermaster has also been moved to compensate for this change.
New Music and Audio
A lot of new music and audio has been added in this patch.
Achievement, String, and Misc Changes
Take a look at the new achievements, strings, scenarios, mounts, and other misc changes coming in the patch!
Content Coming on January 22, 2019
Some content will not be available when Patch 8.1 launches on December 11th. Here is what you have to look forward to next month! Battle of Dazar’alor Raid
For ages untold, Dazar’alor has stood at the center of the great and powerful Zandalari empire. Its guards have thwarted numerous attempts on King Rastakhan’s life, and it has endured trials both ancient and new. But as war reaches the shores of Zuldazar, the Alliance embarks on a daring gambit to besiege the golden pyramid and sever the Zandalari’s bond to the Horde.
Raid Unlock Schedule January 22 — Normal and Heroic Difficulties
January 29 — Mythic and Raid Finder Wing 1
February 12 — Raid Finder Wing 2
February 26 — Raid Finder Wing 3
PvP Season 1 Ends and Season 2 Starts
Battle for Azeroth PvP Season 1 will end and Season 2 will begin at the same time as Battle of Dazar’alor opens on January 22.
Mythic Keystone Dungeon Season 2 Begins January 22
To align with the opening of the new raid dungeon, Mythic Keystone Dungeon Season 2 will begin on January 22. Reaping - New Affix that causes previously killed trash to rise and rush your group every 20% on the progress bar.
Increased item level rewards
Additional ring on Azerite Armor The fifth ring has two spec specific trait options to choose between for each spec for your class.
The fourth ring continues to have one spec specific trait for each spec or the option of a general trait.
Content Available in the Future
Some additional content will be released later than January 22nd, most likey around 8.1.5. Crucible of Storms Raid
The Crucible of Storms raid will be a two boss raid that continues the story of Azshara and the Old God influences in Battle for Azeroth. This raid also has a series of quests related to Xal'atath.
Kul Tiran Human and Zandalari Troll Allied Races
At some point after the Battle for Dazar'alor, we will be recruiting the Kul Tiran Humans and Zandalari Trolls officially into the factions. For more information on these races, click the banners below.
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Live Developer Q&A Friday, December 14 - Submit Your Questions Tides of Vengeance Updated Patch Notes
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
The war raging across Azeroth between Alliance and Horde has intensified. As the Alliance lays plans to retake Darkshore and regain a foothold in Kalimdor, both factions have redoubled their attacks across the zones of Kul Tiras and Zandalar. War Campaign
New Questlines New chapters in the War Campaign are now available. Head to Boralus or Zuldazar to rejoin your faction’s war efforts. New Missions Several new Missions are now available at both your War Table, as well as from new drops from various activities, such as Island Expeditions. Look for new Missions to upgrade your faction’s outposts, level up followers so that they gain access to a new equipment slot, send your followers on lucrative new weekly treasure hunts, and unlock a vendor who offers the opposing faction’s pets. Faction Assaults Periodically, the Alliance or the Horde will launch an assault against a hostile position in Kul Tiras or Zandalar. When an Assault is active, a group of new World Quests will be available to both factions in that area. Rally to the location to fight on behalf of your faction and earn new Honorbound or 7th Legion Service Medals that can be exchanged for a variety of rewards.
Players who have unlocked World Quests at level 120 on at least one character will have Assault World Quests available to any of their other characters.
Warfront: The Battle for Darkshore
The conflict over the home of the night elves has reached a fever pitch, and new questlines will lead you to the all-new Battle for Darkshore. In this new Warfront, you’ll unlock access to powerful hero transformations that give you temporary abilities themed around your role as a tank, healer, or damage dealer. Contributions for Darkshore as well as the Stromgarde Warfront now operate on a daily cycle. When resources are being mustered, three quartermasters will each put out a request for a different contribution each day. The requested turn-ins have also been adjusted to be more consistent in their value.
When your faction controls either Arathi Highlands or Darkshore, world quests will now be available in those zones, in place of the once-per-cycle kill quests that were previously offered for Arathi.
Heritage Armor Questlines
New questlines to find and obtain new Heritage armor are available to two mighty races – the dwarves and the blood elves. Available at level 120 to dwarves who are Exalted with Ironforge and blood elves who are exalted with Silvermoon, look for “Keep Yer Feet on the Ground” at the Stormwind Embassy, or “The Pride of the Sin’dorei” at the Orgrimmar Embassy, and get started rediscovering your heritage. Island Expeditions
Scouts have discovered two new destinations for Island Expeditions – the vrykul land of Jorundall and the Gilnean town of Havenswood. These, as well as the previous Island Expeditions, now feature new enemies, achievements, events, items, and vendors. The logic used to spawn Island Expeditions has been adjusted to favor more organic concentrations of foes, with more clear paths in between, to make it easier to navigate without being forced into combat.
The chance for cosmetic rewards are now based on all the enemies and Azerite present on the island, and no longer tied to only the enemy camps your team defeats. Completing an Island Expedition at a higher difficulty increases the chance of receiving these bonus rewards.
Battle pets rewarded from the completion of islands that were previously uncageable can now be caged.
The weekly quest to recover Azerite now requires 36,000 Azerite (was 40,000).
Mythic and PvP Islands now reward 350 Artifact Power (was 300), and PvP Islands now award 50 Conquest on a win (was 8).
The weekly Island Expedition quest, and progress towards it, are now visible on the world map.
The Island Expedition weekly quest now rewards lucrative new treasure map Missions for your followers.
Look for new vendors in Boralus and Dazar’alor who offer exclusive rewards in exchange for your Seafarer’s Dubloons.
Dungeons and Raids You can now speak to Archmage Timear in Dalaran above the Broken Isles to access Legion Raid Finder solo or with a private group.
Siege of Boralus and Kings’ Rest are now available on Heroic difficulty.
Mythic Keystones can no longer be deleted.
The new Raid: Battle of Dazar’alor, and Season 2 for PvP and Mythic Keystone Dungeons will begin with the weekly reset in each region starting on January 22, 2019.
Achievements Many new achievements related to the new Assaults, Island Expeditions, and Warfront are now available.
Two new Mythic Keystone Feats of Strength are now available. To earn them, complete all available Battle for Azeroth Mythic Keystone dungeons before the time limit, at +10 and +15 difficulty, by the end of the season.
The Family Battler achievement has arrived. Complete 10 challenging family-only pet battle achievements in Kul Tiras and Zandalar to earn your new Wicker Wraith pet.
Progress toward the new 100 Exalted Reputations achievement is account-wide. Complete it to earn the Pureheart Courser mount and the “Esteemed” title.
Items and Rewards Account-bound maps to unlock many flight points on Kul Tiras and Zandalar can be purchased from the War Campaign emissary to send to your alts.
The Tortollans have new trinkets they’re willing to share if you’ll help the baby turtles make it to the water.
The Meat Wagon mount is now available to players who purchased Warcraft III: Reforged. Azerite Gear Vendor You can now target specific kinds of Azerite armor by earning Titan Residuum, which can be used to purchase Azerite armor from everyone’s favorite purveyor of exquisite furnishings: Thaumaturge Vashreen.
The item contained in your Mythic Keystone weekly cache can no longer be a piece of Azerite gear. You’ll now receive an amount of Titan Residuum in addition to your weekly item.
Higher-level Keystones return greater amounts of Titan Residuum from your weekly cache.
Scrapping or disenchanting new epic-quality Azerite gear obtained in Tides of Vengeance (from any source) also provides Titan Residuum.
Thaumaturge Vashreen currently offers slot-specific tokens for Azerite gear, equivalent to item levels from Normal, Heroic, and Mythic Uldir.
Additionally, specific pieces of Mythic Raid item level Azerite gear may be purchased at a premium price.
There is no cap on the amount of Titan Residuum you may collect.
When Season 2 begins, Thaumaturge Vashreen will offer new, higher item-level Azerite items at higher Residuum asking prices, while the weekly Mythic Keystone chest reward and the Residuum obtained from destroying higher item-level Azerite pieces increases proportionally.
Heart of Azeroth
New Azerite Traits are available from gear found in the Battle for Darkshore Warfront: Ancients’ Bulwark – Standing still grants you Versatility and moving grants you healing.
Apothecary’s Concoctions – Your damaging and healing abilities have a chance to deal extra plague damage or restore missing health.
Endless Hunger – Increases your Versatility and grants you health when you move near an enemy’s corpse.
Shadow of Elune – Your spells and abilities have a chance to increase your Haste and grant you increased movement speed at night.
Each specialization has had one of its Azerite traits replaced with a new one. Details may be found in the Class changes section below.
More new Azerite Traits and armor with a new fifth tier of traits will become available in Season 2 and from Battle of Dazar’alor.
Reaching Friendly, Honored, or Revered reputation with the Champions of Azeroth faction now unlocks the appropriate quests to upgrade your Heart of Azeroth for all characters on your account.
The cost of using the Azerite Reforging services available in your faction capital has been reset to the base 5 gold. This cost now decays by 50% every 24 hours, down from 72 hours.
New Follower Equipment New basic equipment for Followers is now available from your Honorbound or 7th Legion reputation vendor.
Alchemists can now learn and craft a powerful new Follower item that bypasses the troop penalty on Stealth missions: Vial of Obfuscation.
New Heirlooms Honorbound and 7th Legion quartermasters in the Warfront muster area in each capital offer new Heirlooms in exchange for Medals.
Battle Hymnal (A trinket that temporarily increases your and your party’s Haste)
Bolstering War Horn (A trinket that temporarily increases your and your party’s Versatility)
Cloak of Hardened Steel (A cloak that increases your experience gains)
Dusk Powder (A Trinket that, on use, temporarily reduces the threat you generate)
Enchanted Warscroll (A trinket that temporarily increases your and your party’s Haste)
Paragon Reputations All Battle for Azeroth factions now offer repeatable Paragon reward caches when you earn reputation with them after reaching Exalted.
Rewards include toys such as the Bowl of Glowing Pufferfish and companion pets such as the Cobalt Raven.
Gold Rewards World Quests and Missions now reward more gold.
New PvP Brawl: Cooking: Impossible
Nomi is back, and he wants you to bring your most dangerous pots and pans to The Valley of the Four Winds for a new brawl in the kitchen. Look to your in-game calendar for round one of this cutthroat culinary conflict. Battle Pets: There’s Gnome Place Like Gnomeregan
You’re called to an all-new pet dungeon experience. Pick up your first quest to head to Gnomeregan from Radek Fuselock in Dazar’alor or Tizzy Gearjolt in Boralus. You’ll find the new vendor Micro Zoox just outside Gnomeregan, offering four new companions: Mechanical Cockroach, Leper Rat, Mechantula (a schematic for Engineers to craft and trade), and everyone’s best friend, Alarm-o-Dog. Completing the normal version of the pet dungeon rewards an Ultimate Battle-Training Stone, and completing the Challenge version rewards your very own Mini Spider Tank pet. The Gnomeregan battle pet dungeon does not require that you have completed previous battle pet dungeons.
If you’d like to compete head-to-head with other players, the PvP pet battle matchmaker has been improved. Now, players who are new to the PvP battle pet system are more likely to be matched up against other new PvP pet battlers.
Professions
Keep an eye out for new additions to many Professions, including new gear, new feasts for your raid and dungeon groups, new Jewelcrafting rings, inscription Contracts for increased Honorbound and 7th Legion reputation, and new craftable pets. Learn new Sanguicell recipes for Engineering, Alchemy, Enchanting, and Cooking.
Look out for the Enchanting new pet: Enchanted Tiki Mask.
Level 111-120 gems can no longer be placed into the sockets of items from previous expansions.
Darkmoon Faire quest-based skillups now apply automatically to the most recent expansion profession progress that is not at its maximum.
Professions-related World Quests now have a chance to reward Expulsom.
Herbalism World Quests now have a chance to reward Anchor Weed.
Character Appearances Night elves who complete the new Darkshore questline may earn a new custom appearance that may then be selected at barber shops throughout Azeroth.
Partially collected transmog sets will now tell you more information about which missing appearances are relevant to your current character.
Items with reputation requirements to acquire no longer require that reputation to apply as a transmog appearance, once acquired.
Fist weapons can now be transmogrified over other types of one-handed melee weapons, and vice-versa.
If your character’s race or faction cosmetically changes (such as in Battle of Dazar’alor or Mercenary Mode), any Horde or Alliance-centric armor and weapon appearances your character is wearing or has transmogrified to will update to appear as the enemy faction’s version. If you have a transmogrified appearance that isn’t considered valid for the race you change in to, the transmog will be removed and your equipped armor will show, subject to the same faction split.
Group Finder Dungeons from prior expansions will no longer appear when searching for Dungeon groups in the Premade Group Finder. For example, level 120 players will no longer see groups listed for Lower Blackrock Spire.
Battle for Azeroth dungeons now automatically change you to a spec that matches the role you chose when you queued.
Fixed issues that could prevent groups from using the Premade Group Finder to form or backfill groups for Timewalking raids.
When an attempt to queue for an activity fails due to party member eligibility, the group leader is now informed which party members are not eligible.
Mobile Companion App Added new Missions and rewards.
Added new World Quests and additional zones: Arathi Highlands and Darkshore.
Fixed performance and disconnection issues.
Fixed a bug where Azerite Armor Caches showed incorrect item level.
World and Questing Time to level from 1 to 110 has been reduced by approximately 25%.
Legion World Quests for the Highmountain Tribe, Nightfallen, Army of the Light, and Argussian Reach now reward increased reputation.
The initial chapters of the War Campaign now reward more reputation with the 7th Legion or Honorbound.
Most world quests can no longer be completed in a raid group, and Premade Group Finder groups for them will automatically delist upon reaching 5 players. Epic world boss quests are still raid-eligible.
Rest areas have been added to Hook Point and The Mugambala.
A new flight point has been added to The Mugambala.
User Interface The flight maps in Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor have been updated to a higher resolution.
Reputation rewards from world quests and missions now use quality to indicate their potency.
Bag search will now help find new things including item quality, Azerite, specific Azerite powers, and stats appearing on an item.
Items which have stats that scale with your character’s level (such as gems in the auction house) will now show their stats at the maximum value.
Pending summons now show on party/raid frames.
While the scrapper UI is open, scrappable items will be marked with an overlaid icon.
The location of the scrapper will now show on your minimap.
The Mythic Keystone Dungeon tab now shows the highest-level Mythic dungeon that was completed in time. Higher-level completions that were not in time are still stored and can be seen when mousing over a given dungeon in the interface.
Inbound and outbound blocks (both melee and ranged) will now show in floating combat text.
The responsiveness of the Communities UI has been improved.
Upcoming calendar events are now shown in Community chat.
Classes All Classes Area damage abilities such as Chain Lightning or Avenger’s Shield can now properly destroy totems or Explosive orbs in Mythic Keystone dungeons if the player targets them directly.
Shield users can now block ranged physical attacks.
Fixed pathing issues that could cause some spells such as Frozen Orb to become stuck.
Troll Berserking reduced to 10% Haste for 12 seconds (was 15% Haste for 10 seconds).
Blood Elf Arcane Torrent cooldown increased to 2 minutes (was 1.5 minutes). Azerite Traits
Ephemeral Recovery redesigned. It now provides a mana gain when you go below 20% mana.
Self Reliance heal now activates when no enemies are within 12 yards (was 20 yards).
Death Knight (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator) Death Strike (Rank 2) now reduces the cost of Death Strike by 10 and increases its healing by 60% (was 40%).
Veteran of the Third War is now learned by all specs, providing 10% stamina to Frost and Unholy, and 60% to Blood Death Knights. Azerite Traits Bloody Runeblade (replaces Embrace of the Darkfallen) - When Crimson Scourge activates, you gain 259 Haste for 5 seconds, and immediately gain 5 Runic Power.
Cold Hearted - Icebound Fortitude heals for 1908 every second and its cooldown is reduced by 15 seconds.
Frostwhelp's Indignation (replaces Glacial Contagion) - Pillar of Frost summons a Frostwhelp who breathes on all enemies within 20 yards in front of you for 864 Frost damage. Each unique enemy hit by Frostwhelp's Indignation grants you 35 Mastery for 6 seconds, up to 175.
Helchains (replaces Horrid Experimentation) - Dark Transformations links you and your pet with chains that deal 467 Fire damage every second to enemies between you for 15 seconds.
Magus of the Dead (replaces Festering Doom) - Apocalypse and Army of the Damned additionally summon a Magus of the Dead who hurls Frostbolts and Shadowbolts at your foes, dealing 933 each.
Blood Bonestorm now heals you for a maximum of 15% of your health.
Purgatory no longer clears on death.
Will of the Necropolis now reduces damage taken below 30% by 30% (was 35% reduction below 35% health).
Frost Breath of Sindragosa damage decreased by 10%.
Dreadwake Armor 2-piece bonus value reduced to 3% (was 15%).
Unholy All Will Serve Skulker Shot damage reduced by 15%.
Bursting Sores now affects all nearby targets.
Death and Decay’s Necrotic Strike now also hits up to 3 additional targets.
Demon Hunter Chaos Brand now triggers from all damage (was only Fire/Chaos damage). Azerite Traits Chaotic Transformation (replaces Unbound Chaos) - Demon Blades / Demon's Bite deals 283 additional damage. When you activate Metamorphosis, the cooldown of Eye Beam and Blade Dance is immediately reset.
Hour of Reaping (replaces Gaping Maw) - Lesser Soul Fragments restore 467 additional health, and every 40 Soul Fragments you consume causes your next Soul Cleave to grant you a Soul Barrier.
Revel in Pain now additionally causes Fiery Brand to last 10 seconds.
New: Thrive in Chaos - Each Fury / Pain spent heals you for 10 / 25 Health.
Havoc Vengeful Retreat is no longer subject to the global cooldown. Druid Wild Charge is no longer subject to the global cooldown. Azerite Traits Arcanic Pulsar (replaces Sunblaze) - Starsurge's damage is increased by 429. Every 9 Starsurges, gain Celestial Alignment for 6 seconds.
Autumn Leaves healing reduced by 25%, and now increases Rejuvenation duration by 1 second.
Burst of Savagery (replaces Craggy Bark) - Consuming Gore grants you 104 mastery for 5 seconds and has a 15% chance to activate Gore.
Early Harvest (replaces Fungal Essence) - When Wild Growth expires, it heals the target for 291 if they are injured or it reduces the cooldown of Innervate by 1 sec if they are not.
Gushing Lacerations damage increased by 400%.
High Noon now increases Sunfire periodic damage instead (was direct damage).
Jungle Fury (replaces Shredding Fury) - Tiger's Fury increases your critical strike by 339 and lasts 12 seconds.
Power of the Moon now increases Moonfire periodic damage (was direct damage), and now grants Moonfire periodic damage a chance to grant Lunar Empowerment.
Reawakening Absorption doubled, and now grants the target of your Rebirth a Well Fed buff.
New: Switch Hitter - An ability from your chosen Affinity grants an additional bonus for 20 seconds.
Untamed Ferocity (replaces Raking Ferocity) - Combo-point generating abilities deal 86 additional instant damage and reduce the cooldown of Berserk by 0.3 seconds.
Balance Mastery: Starlight now affects Starsurge and Solar Empowerment at full value (was half value).
Stellar Flare damage increased by 25%.
Twin Moons damage bonus to Moonfire reduced to 10% (was 20%).
Feral Feral spec aura no longer has a hidden 25% bonus to Haste.
Mastery: Razor Claws now includes finishing moves.
Ferocious Bite no longer refreshes the duration of Rip if the target is below 25% health.
Maim Energy cost reduced to 30 (was 35), and damage increased by 50%.
New: Primal Wrath - Finishing move that deals instant damage and applies Rip to all enemies within 10 yards. Lasts longer per combo point.
Shred damage increased by 20%, and damage bonus from stealth reduced to 30% (was 50%).
Rip Energy cost reduced to 20 (was 30), combo points now increase the duration (was damage), and lasts longer per combo point.
Savage Roar now grants 10% damage (was 15%), and now grants 10% Energy regeneration rate.
New: Scent of Blood - Each enemy hit by Thrash reduces the cost of Swipe by 3 Energy for the next 6 seconds.
Guardian All damage abilities increased 12%.
At level 80, Guardian Druids now learn Stampeding Roar (Rank 2), which reduces the cooldown of Stampeding Roar by 1 minute.
Ursol’s Vortex (replaces Intimidating Roar) - Conjures a vortex of wind for 10 seconds at the destination, reducing the movement speed of all enemies within 8 yards by 50%. The first time an enemy attempts to leave the vortex, winds will pull that enemy back to its center.
Restoration Tranquility direct healing reduced by 10%, and heal-over-time healing reduced by 40%.
Wild Growth healing increased by 10%.
Hunter Beast Lore now shows spec and abilities.
Many creatures that were previously untamable can now be tamed by Hunters.
Hunter shots now visually fire from the correct attachment point.
The spell visuals for Barrage have been improved. Azerite Traits Dire Consequences (replaces Pack Alpha) - Kill Command deals 525 additional damage, and has a chance to summon a Dire Beast.
New: Nature’s Salve - Exhilaration heals you for an additional 11505 health, and its cooldown is reduced by 15 seconds.
Primeval Intuition (replaces Up Close and Personal) - Your maximum Focus is increased and Mongoose Bite / Raptor Strike increases your Critical Strike by 10 for 12 seconds, stacking up to 5 times.
Surging Shots (replaces Arcane Flurry) - Rapid Fire damage is increased per shot fired. This damage starts lower and increases per shot of Rapid Fire. Aimed Shot has a 15% chance to reset the cooldown of Rapid Fire.
Beast Mastery Your second Animal Companion will now Play Dead and benefit from Mend Pet.
Dire Beast now properly includes beasts from Kul Tiras and Zandalar.
Marksmanship Aimed Shot damage increased by 20% and no longer has a +50% damage bonus if it is the first shot against a target.
Arcane Shot damage increased 25%.
Bursting Shot now snares for 6 seconds (was 4 seconds), can no longer be dodged, and knocks targets back much farther.
Disengage can now be used while using Rapid Fire without breaking the channel.
Explosive Shot redesigned. Now fires an explosive shot at your target. After 3 seconds, the shot will explode, dealing Fire damage to all enemies within 8 yards
Lethal Shots redesigned. Arcane Shot and Multi-Shot have a 20% chance to reduce the cooldown of Rapid Fire by 5 seconds.
Lone Wolf now ramps up to maximum effect 20 seconds after dismissing your pet (was 50 seconds).
Multi-Shot damage increased 25%, and radius increased to 10 yards (was 8).
Piercing Shot now ignores armor and can no longer be blocked.
Precise Shots bonus reduced to 75% (was 100%).
Serpent Sting damage increased by 15%.
Steady Shot now also increases the duration of Concussive Shot on a target by 3 seconds.
Streamline additional Rapid Fire duration reduced to 20% (was 30%).
Trick Shots additional damage increased to 50% (was 40%).
Trueshot redesigned. Reduces the cooldown of your Aimed Shot and Rapid Fire by 60%, and causes Aimed Shot to cast 50% faster.
Volley now has a greater chance to activate and does less damage.
Survival Harpoon is no longer subject to the global cooldown.
Mage Cold Snap can once again be used while in Ice Block. Azerite Traits Brain Storm now also makes Evocation grant 2 Arcane Charges immediately.
Equipoise (replaces Anomalous Impact) - When you are above 70% mana, Arcane Blast deals 150 additional damage. When you are below 70% mana, Arcane Blast's cost is reduced by 190.
Flash Freeze (replaces Winter's Reach) - Each of your Icicles deals 897 additional damage, and when an Icicle deals damage you have a 3% chance to gain the Fingers of Frost effect.
New: Quick Thinking - Your instant cast damaging spells heal you for 784.
Wildfire (replaces Preheat) - Pyroblast deals 937 additional damage. When you activate Combustion, you gain 768 Critical Strike, and up to 4 nearby allies gain 96 Critical Strike for 10 seconds.
Frost All damage increased by 3%.
Blizzard now applies a 50% snare for 1.5 seconds (was 50% snare for 15 seconds) and range increased to 40 yards (was 35 yards).
Comet Storm damage reduced by 10%.
Frostbolt now applies a 50% snare for 8 seconds (was 50% snare for 15 seconds).
Frozen Orb now applies a 30% snare for 3 seconds (was 50% snare for 15 seconds).
Regalia of the Arcane Tempest 2-piece set bonus reduced to 4% crit damage (was 20%).
Monk Crackling Jade Lightning initial tick and damage per-tick reduced 20%. Azerite Traits Burst of Life now additionally reduces the cooldown of Life Cocoon by 20 seconds.
Dance of Chi-Ji (replaces Meridian Strikes) - Spending Chi has a chance to make your next Spinning Crane Kick free and deal 2966 additional damage.
New: Exit Strategy - Rolling grants you 73 Avoidance for 2 seconds. Taking non-periodic damage in this time reduces the cooldown of Roll by 5 seconds.
Fury of Xuen (replaces Iron Fist) - Your Combo Strikes grant you the Fury of Xuen, giving your next Fists of Fury a 2% chance to grant 1200 Haste and invoke Xuen, The White Tiger for 8 seconds.
Glory of the Dawn (replaces Swift Roundhouse) - Rising Sun Kick has a chance to trigger a second time, dealing 11526 Physical damage and restoring 1 Chi.
Secret Infusion (replaces Invigorating Brew) - After using Thunder Focus Tea, your next spell gives 80 of a stat for 10 seconds.
Straight, No Chaser (replaces Niuzao’s Blessing) - Ironskin Brew increases your Armor by 69, and has an 8% chance to not consume a charge.
Brewmaster Base Stagger amount reduced to 105% of Agility (was 140%).
Ironskin Brew increases Stagger by 270% (was 250%).
Black Ox Statue threat radius reduced to 20 yards (was 30 yards).
Mistweaver Enveloping Mist healing reduced by 13%.
Soothing Mist is no longer dispellable.
Windwalker All damage increased by 5%.
Good Karma redesigned - 100% of the damage redirected by Touch of Karma also heals you.
Rushing Jade Wind now has a 1 Chi cost, a 6 second duration, and 6 second cooldown.
Touch of Death damage reduced to 35% of your maximum health (was 50%).
Touch of Karma damage redirected is now 70% of absorbed damage (was 100% of absorbed damage).
Paladin Paladin Divine Steed glyphs from the Legion Order Hall are now accessible account-wide. Azerite Traits Divine Revelations now additionally increases Infusion of Light-buffed Flashes of Light.
New: Empyreal Ward - Lay on Hands grants the target 259 armor for 1 minute.
Empyrean Power (replaces Divine Right) - Your attacks have a chance to make your next Divine Storm free and deal 2559 additional damage.
Glimmer of Light (replaces Martyr's Breath) - Holy Shock leaves a Glimmer of Light on the target for 30 seconds. When you Holy Shock, all targets with Glimmer of Light are damaged for 421 or healed for 730.
Light's Decree (replaces Zealotry) - Spending Holy Power during Avenging Wrath causes you to explode with Holy light for 1182 damage per Holy Power spent to nearby enemies. Avenging Wrath's duration is increased by 5 seconds.
Righteous Conviction (replaces Dauntless Divinity) - Your Light of the Protector heals for 1290 additional healing, and is always increased by 200% during Avenging Wrath.
Holy Holy Paladin spells and visuals have been updated. Protection Hand of the Protector bonus is now based on your target’s missing health. Retribution Consecration damage increased by 20%.
Fixed a bug that prevented consecutive Divine Purpose procs. To compensate, Diving Purpose damage and healing increased reduced to 20% (was 30%).
Divine Storm damage increased by 20%.
Greater Blessing of Kings absorption increased 19% and can no longer stack.
Greater Blessing of Wisdom no longer restores health, only mana, and can no longer stack.
Priest Focused Will now stacks to a maximum of 1 (was 2).
Halo damage and healing reduced 6%.
Power Word: Shield applies Weakened Soul, preventing the same caster from recasting it on the same target for 7.5 seconds. Azerite Traits New: Death Denied - Leap of Faith absorbs the next 10,736 damage to the target within 10 seconds. While the shield holds, Leap of Faith cools down 200% faster.
Depth of the Shadows healing bonus increased 100%, and now increases Atonement duration, when applied by Shadow Mend, by 2 seconds.
Promise of Deliverance (replaces Sacred Flame) - For 10 seconds after you cast Holy Word: Serenity, Heal and Flash Heal heal for an additional 472, and reduce the cooldown of Holy Word: Serenity by an additional 1 seconds.
Searing Dialogue now also causes Mind Sear to snare targets hit by Mind Sear by 30% for 1 second.
Sudden Revelation (replaces Gift of Forgiveness) - Power Word: Radiance has a 50% chance to cause your next Holy Nova to deal 1470 additional damage and reduce the cooldown of Power Word: Radiance by 3 seconds.
Thought Harvester redesigned. Vampiric Touch damage is increased, and each time Vampiric Touch deals damage you have a chance to increase the damage of your next Mind Sear within 20 seconds by 300%.
Whispers of the Damned redesigned. Mind Blast now deals additional damage and generates additional Insanity on critical strikes.
Discipline Damage of Smite and Shadow Word: Pain reduced by 11%.
Damage of Shadowfiend, Mindbender, Purge the Wicked, Schism, and Power Word: Solace reduced 8%.
Atonement heals for 55% of damage done (was 60%).
Body and Soul no longer has a 6 second internal cooldown.
Evangelism cooldown increased to 90 seconds (was 75 seconds).
Power Word: Shield cost increased to 2.65% of mana (was 2.5%).
Rapture additionally allows you to ignore Weakened Soul.
Holy Benediction proc rate decreased to 25% (was 30%).
Binding Heal healing reduced to 67% of spell power (was 75%), and now costs 2.9% of mana (was 2.4%).
Focused Will (rank 2) allows it to stack to 2.
Greater Fade now cancels when the Priest takes a hostile action.
Heal healing increased to 175% (was 160%)
Holy: Word Salvation initial healing reduced to 110% (was 150%).
Renew healing increased by 15%.
Trail of Light now affects Heal as well as Flash Heal and replicates 35% of the initial cast (was 40%).
Shadow Shadow Priests now have Focused Will.
All damage reduced by 5%.
Dispersion damage reduction increased to 75% (was 60%), and now also increases movement speed by 50% for its duration.
New: Intangibility (replaces Mania) - Dispersion heals for 50% of your maximum health over its duration and has 30 seconds reduced cooldown.
Hallucinations is now a passive ability for all Shadow Priests (was a PvP talent).
Legacy of the Void now increases Voidform’s damage bonus by 5%.
Mind Bomb duration increased to 6 seconds (was 5 seconds).
Mind Sear damage increased by 20%.
Power Word: Shield no longer has a cooldown.
Psychic Scream damage break threshold increased by 40% against non-players.
Shadowform no longer provides 10% physical damage reduction.
Surrender to Madness cooldown reduced to 3 minutes (was 4 minutes), and Insanity generation penalty duration reduced to 15 seconds (was 30 seconds).
Voidform now increases spell damage by 20% (was 10%), and Insanity drain increase reduced by 7.5%.
Void Bolt Insanity generation increased to 20 (was 16).
Void Torrent damage increased by 20%, now generates 25 Insanity over its duration, and no longer requires Voidform.
Rogue
Azerite Traits Blade in the Shadows now reduces the cost of Shadowstrike by 2 Energy as a non-stacking bonus. Damage bonus reduced by 40%.
Echoing Blades (replaces Fan of Blades) - Fan of Knives damage is increased by 321. For each of the first 5 critical strikes, it will fire a second spray of knives at that location, dealing 1282 damage to enemies within 8 yards.
Keep Your Wits About You (replaces Storm of Steel) - Each time an attack Blade Flurries, increase the chance for Sinister Strike to strike again by 2%. Additional strikes of Sinister Strike deal 1844 more damage.
New: Lying in Wait - While no enemy is within 12 yards, heal for 689 every second. While any enemy is within 12 yards, gain 173 Speed.
Nothing Personal (replaces Poisoned Wire) - Vendetta poisons the target, dealing 11049 damage over 20 seconds, and grants you 40 energy over 20 seconds.
Perforate now reduces the cooldown of Shadow Blades by 0.5 seconds when Backstabbing an enemy from behind.
Replicating Shadows (replaces Sharpened Blade) - Each combo point spent has an 2% chance to cause your Nightblade to deal 5843 Shadow damage and spread to a nearby enemy.
The First Dance redesigned. Activating Shadow Dance now grants you Combo Points and increases your Haste for its duration.
Subtlety Shuriken Combo (baseline passive) removed.
Shuriken Storm damage increased by 35%.
Shaman Capacitor Totem and Earthbind Totem range increased to 40 yards.
Spirit Wolf is now available when you’re dead. Azerite Traits New: Ancient Ankh Talisman - While Reincarnation is off cooldown, your maximum health is increased by 2590. While you are at full health, Reincarnation cools down 50% faster.
Tectonic Thunder (replaces Rumbling Tremors) - Earthquake deals 596 Physical damage instantly, and has a 25% chance to make your next Chain Lightning be instant cast.
Spouting Spirits healing reduced by 15%, and now increases Spirit Link Totem radius by 15%.
New: Thunderaan’s Fury - Stormstrike deals 271.5 additional damage, and has a 15% chance to summon Thunderaan's Fury Totem, doubling the chance to activate Windfury Weapon for 12 seconds.
Turn of the Tide (replaces Ebb and Flow) - Both bonuses of Tidal Waves are increased 5%, and spells affected by it heal for an additional 859.
Elemental New: Call the Thunder - Your maximum Maelstrom increased by 30, and the Maelstrom cost of Earth Shock and Earthquake is reduced by 10.
Earth Shock damage reduced by 16%.
Earthquake range increased to 40 yards.
Elemental Blast overloads will now always grant a separate secondary stat buff from the primary spell and the overloaded spell.
Flame Shock duration increased to 24 seconds (was 18 seconds).
Icefury now generates 25 Maelstrom (was 15), overload generates 12 Maelstrom (was 8), now causes your next 4 Frost Shocks to generate 8 Maelstrom, and bonus damage increased to 200% (was 100%).
Master of the Elements can now also buff your next Physical damage spell.
Lightning Bolt damage increased by 40%.
Stormkeeper now also increases the damage of your next two Lightning Bolts (and their overloads) by 150%.
New: Surge of Power - Earth Shock also enhances your next spell cast within 15 seconds (Flame Shock, Lightning Bolt, Lava Burst, Frost Shock).
Enhancement All damage increased by 5%.
Boulderfist damage increase is now 35% (was 20%).
Crashing Storm damage increased by 40%.
Forceful Winds damage per stack reduced to 80% (was 100%).
Fury of Air damage increased by 40%.
Hailstorm damage increased by 50%.
Landslide proc chance increased to 40% (was 20%).
Lightning Shield overcharge no longer generates Maelstrom.
Overcharge cooldown reduced to 9 seconds (was 12 seconds).
Totem Mastery Storm Totem increased to 10% Stormstrike damage (was 5%).
Restoration Chain Heal healing increased 33%.
High Tide redesigned. Every (40,000 at level 120) mana you spend brings a High Tide, making your next 2 Chain Heals heal for an additional 20% and not reduce with each jump.
Unleash Life now heals for 130% (was 110%), increases the next heal by 35% (was 45%), and costs 4% mana (was 5%).
Warlock Players can now summon other players in their group who are present in the same dungeon.
All Warlocks now have Demonic Embrace (passive) – Stamina increased by 10%.
Imp Firebolt damage increased by 25%.
Felhunter, Succubus, and Voidwalker damage increased by 15%. Azerite Traits Baleful Invocation (replaces Forbidden Knowledge) - Your Demonic Tyrant's Demonfire deals 375 additional damage, and summoning your Demonic Tyrant instantly generates 5 Soul Shards.
Chaos Shards (replaces Accelerant) - Incinerate damage is increased by 198, and when you fill up a Soul Shard, you have a 5% chance to generate an additional full Soul Shard over 2 seconds.
Dreadful Calling damage increased by 30%.
Inevitable Demise is now triggered by Agony (was Corruption), and stacks up to 50 times (was 100).
Pandemic Invocation (replaces Deathbloom) - Refreshing Corruption, Agony, or Siphon Life will deal 692 Shadow damage and has a chance to grant you a Soul Shard.
New: Terror of the Mind - You steal 770 health every 1 second from targets affected by your Fear spell.
Affliction Unstable Affliction damage reduced by 9%. Demonology Bilescourge Bombers damage increased by 50%.
Demonic Consumption – each Wild Imp consumed now has a chance to proc Demonic Core, and your Tyrant’s damage bonus per energy consumed has been increased by 100%.
The Demonic Tyrant’s summon duration extension now also applies to any demons summoned from the Nether Portal.
Felguard spell power scaling increased by 15%, and Legion Strike damage additionally increased by 20%.
Nether Portal duration changed to 15 seconds (was 20 seconds), and cost reduced to 1 soul shard (was 3). All pets that can come out of the Nether Portal now deal 25% increased damage.
Sacrificed Souls additional damage per demon reduced to 4% (was 5%).
Destruction Rain of Fire range increased to 40 yards (was 35 yards).
Warrior Battle Shout now correctly increases auto-attack damage by 10%. Azerite Traits Bastion of Might (replaces Reinforced Plating) - Avatar increases your Mastery by 106 for 20 seconds, and instantly grants you Ignore Pain.
Cold Steel, Hot Blood (replaces Bloodcraze) - Bloodthirst critical strikes generate additional Rage and inflict a Gushing Wound that leeches health over 6 seconds.
Crushing Assault Slam damage increased to 10,800 (was 7,060).
Gathering Storm redesigned. Now while Bladestorming, you gain movement speed and strength, stacking.
New: Intimidating Presence - Intimidating Shout reduces the movement speed of affected enemies by 50%, and prevents the next 8109 damage they deal after Intimidating Shout ends.
Striking the Anvil (replaces Executioner’s Precision) - The Tactician effect improves your next Overpower, causing it to deal 902 additional damage and reduce the remaining cooldown of Mortal Strike.
Unbridled Ferocity (replaces Trample the Weak) - Rampage deals additional damage and has a 8% chance to grant you Recklessness.
Arms Charge is no longer subject to the global cooldown.
Execute now refunds 20% of Rage spent if the target doesn’t die (was 30%).
Fury Charge is no longer subject to the global cooldown. Protection Ignore Pain is no longer subject to the global cooldown.
Intercept is no longer subject to the global cooldown.
Shield Block recharge time reduced to 16 seconds (was 18 seconds).
Vanguard now increases Stamina by 45% (was 40%), and armor by 60% of Strength (was 50%).
Player versus Player The reward bonuses from War Mode can now scale above 10% when a faction was outnumbered over the course of the preceding week, up to a maximum of 30% additional quest rewards and experience.
In War Mode, an outnumbered faction now has access to a weekly quest to slay 25 level 120 players of the opposing faction, rewarding a piece of item level 370 Arathi Warfront gear and 1000 Artifact Power.
War Mode can now be disabled in any rested area. It can still only be enabled in Stormwind or Orgrimmar.
The Honor system reward vendor has been consolidated.
Strongboxes rewarded for unrated PvP have been improved. They now contain Marks of Honor, gold, PvP consumables, and profession materials. Strongboxes granted on victories contain greater amounts of these rewards.
Rated Arenas and Rated Battlegrounds now grant an additional 50% conquest for all conquest reward weeks prior to week 9.
Honor pet rewards have consolidated to new vendors in Stormwind and Orgrimmar. Alterac Valley The relentless snow in Alterac Valley has raised the height of Stonehearth graveyard, making it more challenging for the Horde to assault. Classes (PvP) Healing Surge, Healing Wave, Holy Light, Flash of Light, Heal, and Regrowth healing increased by 15% in PvP. Death Knight Decomposing Aura now only applies to Blood and Unholy Death Knights.
Heartstop Aura now only applies to Blood and Frost Death Knights and decreases the cooldown recovery rate of abilities by 30% to enemies (was 20%).
Dark Simulacrum cost reduced to none (was 20 Runic Power) and cooldown decreased to 20 seconds (was 25 seconds).
New PvP talent (Frost, Unholy): Transfusion. Generates 20 Runic Power and reduces the Runic Power cost of Death Strike by 50% for 7 seconds. Frost New PvP talent: Dead of Winter. After your Remorseless Winter deals damage 5 times to a target, they are Stunned for 4 seconds, and your Remorseless Winter's cooldown is increased by 25 seconds and its radius is reduced to 5 yards.
Chill Streak now deals up to 6% of the target’s health in Frost damage (was 3%).
Deathchill reworked. It is now applied by Remorseless Winter and Chains of Ice (was Death Grip), and now roots the target in place for 4 seconds.
Delirium now lasts for 15 seconds (was 8 seconds).
Unholy New PvP talent: Lichborne. Become Undead for 10 seconds, all damage is reduced by 30%, and you are immune to Stun, Snare, Fear and Root effects. You cannot move faster than 50% of normal speed.
New PvP talent: Life and Death. When targets afflicted by your Festering Wound are healed, you are also healed for 10% of the amount. Your Virulent Plague now erupts for 400% of normal eruption damage when dispelled.
New PvP talent: Necromancer’s Bargain. The cooldown of your Apocalypse is reduced by 45 seconds, your Apocalypse applies Crypt Fever to the target, and Crypt Fever deals up to 8% of the target’s maximum health in Shadow damage over 4 seconds. Healing spells cast on this target will refresh the duration of Crypt Fever.
New PvP talent: Raise Abomination. Raises an Abomination for 25 second which wanders and attacks enemies near where it was summoned, applying Festering Wound when it melees targets, and affecting all those nearby with Virulent Plague.
Demon Hunter
Havoc Demonic Origins no longer increases damage outside of Metamorphosis.
Mana Break no longer increases damage based on missing mana, now increases the mana cost of spells by 30% for 10 seconds, and now costs 50 Fury.
Mana Rift now has an 8 yard range (was 20 yards), now explodes after 2.5 seconds (was 2 seconds) and now costs 50 Fury.
Vengeance Demonic Trample now increases speed by 175% for 3 seconds, now shares charges and cooldown with Infernal Strike, and targets can only be affected by its knockdown effect once every 45 seconds. Druid
Balance Deep Roots now increases the amount of damage required to cancel your Entangling Roots and Mass Entanglement by 400% (was 200%).
Faerie Swarm now disarms targets for 5 seconds (was 8 seconds).
Moonkin Aura now causes Starsurge to grant 4% spell critical strike chance to 8 allies within 40 yards for 18 seconds, stacking up to 3 times.
Feral King of the Jungle now increases healing received (was damage done).
New PvP Talent: Heart of the Wild - You become further adept in Caster Form and Bear Form.
New PvP Talent: Leader of the Pack - While in Cat Form, you increase the melee and ranged critical chance of all allies within 40 yards by 5%. Also causes affected targets to heal themselves for 4% of their maximum health when they critically hit with a melee or ranged attack. The healing effect cannot occur more than once every 6 seconds.
Savage Momentum now reduces the remaining cooldown of Tiger’s Fury, Stampeding Roar, and Survival Instincts by 10 seconds.
Guardian Freedom of the Herd is now available to Guardian Druids. Restoration Early Spring now also grants Full Bloom when Wild Growth heals 6 allies.
New PvP Talent: Master Shapeshifter - Your Guardian, Balance, or Feral Affinity is amplified, granting an additional effect.
Nourish has been redesigned and is now an active spell.
Regrowth healing increased by 15% in PvP.
Monk Eminence reduces the cooldown of Transcendence by 20 seconds (was 5 seconds), and is no longer available to Windwalker Monks.
Grapple Weapon cooldown reduced to 45 seconds. Brewmaster Chrysalis reduces Life Cocoon by 45 seconds (was 30 seconds). Windwalker New PvP talent: Alpha Tiger - Attacking new challengers with Tiger Palm fills you with the spirit of Xuen, granting you 30% haste for 8 seconds. This effect cannot occur more than once every 30 seconds per target.
Chi Burst is no longer cloned by or has its damage reduced by Storm, Earth, and Fire.
New PvP talent: Reverse Harm - Heals a friendly target for 8% of their maximum health and causes 100% of the amount healed to instantly be dealt to the nearest enemy as Nature damage within 5 yards. Generates 2 Chi.
Ride the Wind no longer increases the cooldown of Flying Serpent Kick.
New PvP talent: Turbo Fists - Fists of Fury now deals full damage to all targets hit, reduces all targets movement speed by 90%, and you Parry all attacks while channeling Fists of Fury.
New PvP talent: Wind Waker - When you or allies are snared, the snare is instantly removed, and their movement speed is prevented from being reduced below 100% for 4 seconds.
Paladin
Holy Cleanse the Weak now also removes Diseases and Poisons on targets healed by your Holy Light.
Divine Favor cooldown reduced to 25 seconds (was 45 seconds)
Divine Vision now also reduces Shadow damage by 15% dealt by damage over time and area of effect to allies within your aura.
Flash of Light healing increased by 15% in PvP.
Holy Light healing increased by 25% in PvP.
Priest
Discipline Trinity now also causes Smite, Penance, and Shadowfiend critical strike chance to be increased by 25% when you have Atonement on 3 or more allies. Holy Heal healing increased by 50% in PvP. Shadow Edge of Insanity now reduces damage taken and damage dealt by 10% and has a 15 second duration.
Shadowmend healing increased by 25% in PvP.
Rogue
Assassination Shiv now costs 35 Energy, and now applies Deadly, Wound, and Crippling Poison to the target. Shaman
Elemental Earth Fury (Honor Talent) removed.
Lightning Lasso is no longer dispellable and deals damage of 48% of the target’s health over 6 seconds.
Restoration Chain Heal healing increased by 50% in PvP.
Healing Surge healing increased by 15% in PvP.
Healing Wave healing increased by 25% in PvP.
PvP talent Rippling Waters has been removed.
Warlock Curse of Weakness now reduces attack power (was physical damage), and its effect is increased to 30% (was 25%).
Affliction, Destruction New PvP talent: Demon Armor - Protects the caster, increasing maximum health by 10% and increases armor by 125%.
Warrior Dragon Charge is no longer subject to the global cooldown.
Game Client Integrated new multi-threaded performance optimizations for clients using DirectX 12 and Metal.
All systems that are capable of DirectX 12 now default to DirectX 12.
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Patch 8.1 - Night Warrior Scenario The Night Warrior scenario is a new series of quests that advances the story of the Night Elves after the events of the Burning of Teldrassil.
Tyrande's owl will bring you a message to go to Stormwind Keep.
There, Tyrande tries to convince Anduin to send troops to take back Darkshore, but he tells her to be patient as they can't spare any troops because of the war in Kul Tiras and Zandalar. Tyrande says her people will take back Darkshore without him.
You head to Darkshore, and after a series of quests, find out that Tyrande plans to invoke the ritual of the Night Warrior, which will make her the instrument of Elune' wrath.
You, Shandris Feathermoon, and Maiev Shadowsong search for her through Horde camps while Sira Moonwarden scouts the shore.
You eventually find Tyrande and witness her ascension. She takes you and destroys a Forsaken deathcamp, killing everyone inside except for the leader, Belmont, whom she wants to leave to rot.
The final portion has you, Tyrande, and Malfurion face an army of Forsaken and Nathanos empowered by two of Sylvanas's valkyr.
Nathanos is on the brink of death but one of the valkyr sacrifices herself to save him. The other raises Delaryn Summermoon and Sira Moonwarden (who was killed as you arrived).
The Horde flees and you return to Kul Tiras while Tyrande vows to finish this another day.
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Live Developer Q&A Friday, December 14 - Submit Your Questions
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Join us live on Twitch.tv/Warcraft Friday, December 14, at 11:00 a.m. PST, as we sit down with Game Director Ion Hazzikostas for our next live developer Q&A, where he’ll be answering your Tides of Vengeance questions.
You can submit your questions here in this thread or on Twitter by using the hashtag #WarcraftQA.
As a reminder, please keep your questions short (40 words or less) so that we can get to as many questions as possible. We look forward to you joining us live on Tuesday!
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Patch 8.1 - The Fate of Saurfang Quest Chain
The quest chain that continues Saurfang's story is available in Patch 8.1. Spoilers ahead!
The Dark Lady Calls and The High Overlord - Dark Ranger Alina on the docks of Dazar'alor has you go see Sylvanas in Orgrimmar. She sends you to Elwynn Forest to meet with one of her rangers as reports have surfaced that Saurfang has escaped custody.
A Way Out, On Track, and Eastern Escape - You meet Dark Ranger Lyana outside Stormwind and investigate the area for signs of where Saurfang went. Following tracks and a recently used lock points to an escape through the sewer.
Corner Crossing, Signs of Saurfang, Ever Eastward, and Tracking Tipoff - The search leads you to Redridge Mountain where you disguise yourselves as humans and question the local guards and townsfolk. After taking out a giant spider that Saurfang had injured, you question Hunter Mcalister, but kill him when his dogs identify you.
Grim Tidings, A Warrior's Death, and Queen's Favor - Lyana leaves to report to Sylvanas and Zekhan appears, revealing that Saurfang is hiding in the Swamp of Sorrows. You arrive as the Dark Rangers prepare to capture or kill him and help defend Saurfang. Afterwards, he wants you and Zekhan to remain in the Warchief's favor and bruises you as a ploy to convince her that you didn't help. He then runs off after saying you will see him again. You return to Sylvanas who is irritated, but insists he will be found.
Completing this quest chain rewards you with Worn Cloak.
Alternative Choice
When you reach the point in the quest chain where you talk to Zekhan, you can choose to side with Sylvanas instead of continuing the quest and helping Saurfang. If you choose this, several things happen: You receive the quest For the Queen and head straight to Sylvanas instead of continuing the quest and helping Saurfang.
A message tells you that you will not receive the Worn Cloak, will start an alternate quest, and Zekhan will remember your choice.
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Tides of Vengeance Arrives Starting December 11 Mythic Cache Next Week has Titan Residuum
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Immediately after the Tides of Vengeance update goes live with scheduled maintenance in each region, you’ll now be able to target specific kinds of Azerite armor by earning Titan Residuum, which can be used to purchase Azerite armor from everyone’s favorite purveyor of exquisite furnishings: Thaumaturge Vashreen, who can be found alongside his fellow ethereals in either Boralus or Dazar’alor.
In the weekly cache, you’ll now receive an amount of Titan Residuum in addition to your weekly item. Completing higher-level Keystones will award greater amounts of Titan Residuum from your weekly cache. Scrapping or disenchanting new epic-quality Azerite gear obtained in Tides of Vengeance (from any source) also provides Titan Residuum, with more powerful items yielding more Residuum.
After the update goes live, your weekly cache will contain Titan Residuum, and will not have a chance to contain a piece of Azerite Armor. We suggest you complete at least one Mythic Keystone dungeon before the update to make sure that you earn Titan Residuum when you open your cache after the update.
There isn’t a cap on how much Titan Residuum you can hold, and we do not plan to reset Titan Residuum at the start of Season 2. When Season 2 begins, the vendor will offer higher item-level pieces (iLvl 400 or 415) at significantly higher costs than the Season 1 items. Also at that time, the weekly Mythic Keystone cache will begin rewarding proportionally more Residuum, and new iLvl 400+ Azerite armor will yield more Residuum when scrapped or disenchanted.
See you in the dungeons!
Yes. Completing Mythic Keystones higher than level 10 will yield more Residuum for each additional level, with diminishing returns.
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Patch 8.1 Spells Being Taken off the Global Cooldown Tides of Vengeance Arrives Starting December 11
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
The release of Tides of Vengeance opens the way for a new Warfront — Battle for Darkshore, new dwarf and blood elf Heritage armor, Faction Assaults and more. Learn about what’s in store in our Survival Guide and feature previews.
New Warfront: Battle for Darkshore
In the ashen shadow of Teldrassil, the night elves strike back against the Forsaken to reclaim their ancestral homeland in an all-new co-op Warfront. In between battles, discover what awaits in a new version of the Darkshore zone reshaped by the fires of war. This new Warfront will be available to Alliance players as of December 11 and we’ve shortened the cycle for the first two weeks of the Warfront so that players from both factions will have access to it and all its rewards prior to the holidays. Learn More... Faction Assaults
Grab your friends and take part in the new Faction Assaults in Zandalar and Kul Tiras. Defend against invaders or push deep into enemy territory for fun and great rewards. Learn More... Pet Battle Dungeon: Gnomeregan
Marshal your menagerie and head into the halls of Gnomeregan to face the challenges within in this new Pet Battle Dungeon. Learn More... New Blood Elf and Dwarf Heritage Armor
Celebrate your legacy with two new Heritage Armor sets. Learn More... Explore Two New Islands in Island Expeditions
Set sail for two new islands—Havenswood and Jorundall— and see what new adventures await in Island Expeditions. Learn More... New War Campaign Chapters Open
Continue your adventures through Kul Tiras and Zandalar with new War Campaign chapters. Delve into new questlines and new missions as you push forward with your faction’s cause. Azerite Armor Updates
With the release of Tides of Vengeance, we’ve added a new way for players who participate in Mythic Keystone Dungeons to gain specific Azerite Armor. These players will be able to earn a new currency —Titan Residuum—which can be used to purchase specific items from Thaumaturge Vashreen. You can read more in our forum post.
Once Mythic Keystone Dungeon Season 2 begins, we’ll be introducing new Azerite traits and adding a new fifth ring to items that currently have four rings.The re-spec cost will be reset on Azerite traits and will be reduced from 72 hours to 24 hours.
Reaching Friendly, Honored, or Revered reputation with the Champions of Azeroth faction now unlocks the appropriate quests to upgrade your Heart of Azeroth for all characters on your account. New Mount: Meat Wagon
Prepare to relive the adventure that laid the foundation for Azeroth’s most epic stories. Pre-purchase Warcraft III: Reforged and you’ll receive the new Meat Wagon mount —live in-game with Tides of Vengeance! Learn more at PlayWarcraft3.com. Battle of Dazar’alor Opens January 22
For ages untold, Dazar’alor has stood at the center of the great and powerful Zandalari empire. Its guards have thwarted numerous attempts on King Rastakhan’s life, and it has endured trials both ancient and new. But as war reaches the shores of Zuldazar, the Alliance embarks on a daring gambit to besiege the golden pyramid and sever the Zandalari’s bond to the Horde.
Raid Unlock Schedule
January 22 — Normal and Heroic Difficulties
January 29 — Mythic and Raid Finder Wing 1
February 12 — Raid Finder Wing 2
February 26 — Raid Finder Wing 3
PvP Season 1 Ending and Season 2 Coming January 22
Battle for Azeroth PvP Season 1 will end and Season 2 will begin at the same time as Battle of Dazar’alor opens on January 22. Mythic Keystone Dungeon Season 2 Begins January 22
To align with the opening of the new raid dungeon, Mythic Keystone Dungeon Season 2 will begin on January 22 with a new Affix to put you and your group to the test.
There’s more to explore in Tides of Vengeance and we look forward to seeing you in game!
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Patch 8.1 - Spells Being Taken off the Global Cooldown
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker)
I believe it was Ion that said in a dev chat movement abilities were coming back off the GCD. So is this actually happening?
This is something that is still happening. Here is the list I have so far of abilities that are for sure coming off the GCD: Havoc - Vengeful Retreat
All Druids - Wild Charge
Arms - Charge
Fury - Charge
Protection Warrior - Ignore Pain
Protection Warrior – Intercept
Protection Warrior (PvP) – Dragon Charge
Survival – Harpoon (Source)
Well that’s nice I guess, what about all the other categories?
This is just what we have confirmed so far. There could potentially be more added to the list, but I personally just don’t know of any others yet.
We’d love to hear from you guys on more examples of abilities that you feel should be off the GCD and why. (Source)
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Tides of Vengeance Preview - Faction Assaults
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
The Horde and Alliance have established their footholds in Kul Tiras and Zandalar, each seeking to use these staging points as inroads to the flow of Azerite in enemy territory. Now the Horde and the Alliance will use those hard-earned footholds to launch large-scale assaults deep into enemy territory. While the assaulting faction tries to break through their enemy’s defenses, players must rally the local forces to drive the invaders from their continent. Who: Level 110 and Above players who have unlocked World Quests on their account and have begun the War Campaign. Where: Kul Tiras and Zandalar
With the release of Tides of Vengeance, players will be able to take part in Faction Assaults in Zandalar and Kul Tiras. Level 110 and above players from the Horde and the Alliance will be able to take part in these events on either continent as long as they have unlocked World Quests on their account and have begun the War Campaign.
Faction Assaults will cycle regularly between Kul Tiras and Zandalar, giving players an opportunity to either help their faction attack or defend via a series of World Quests. Much like Legion Assaults, players will be able to see when a Faction Assault is occurring by pulling up their world map (M). A Horde or Alliance crest on the map will indicate the type of invasion that is occurring and the available quests associated with it.
Players will be able to take part in a variety of quest types, including taking out elite targets, mowing down enemy armies with powerful magic and siege weapons, taking down the enemy ship, participating in covert assassinations, or embarking on shared quests that bring the two opposing factions in close proximity to each other. For those who have War Mode on, you’ll want to stay on your toes—and maybe grab a friend or two to join you in battle.
Whether you’re participating in PvP or not, you’ll want to keep your eyes out for a variety of additional bonus items such as potions and bombs to aid you in your quest to push out the opposing forces. A little help from something like an Unstable Azerite Flare could turn the tides of battle quickly—if you can hang on to it long enough. The Spoils of War
If you’re working on leveling an alternate character (or two), Faction Assaults provide plenty of opportunities to earn experience and reputation with the 7th Legion or Honorbound. Completing a Faction Assault will also provide a 1-hour experience buff to help you as you level your way through Battle for Azeroth and prepare to bring your full might to your faction’s aid.
Players at maximum level will be able to earn bonus reputation, War Resources, and new gear (item level 325–370) with a chance of being Titanforged. There are also many achievements to be earned both in PvE and in War Mode. Timing is Everything
Faction Assaults will only be available for a set period of time before they are gone—at least until the next one. You’ll want to keep an eye on the Faction Assault timer, which is visible on your world map and will appear as a countdown in any quests you’re participating in as time winds down. Once an event has completed, any quests you’re on will be gone with it. You’ll want to be extra careful if you’re assaulting a ship hovering over the battlefield . . . you might suddenly find the only direction you can go is down.
Bring some friends along for the fun—and maybe for a little extra protection. Faction Assaults are bound to get your blood pumping.
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Patch 8.1 on the Background Downloader
Patch 8.1 is available on the background downloader!
Preview: New Warfront — Battle for Darkshore
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
In the ashen shadow of Teldrassil, the night elves prepare to strike back against the Forsaken and reclaim their ancestral homeland. . . .
With the upcoming release of Tides of Vengeance, the war between the Horde and Alliance will arrive to a brand-new Warfront: The Battle for Darkshore. Players of both factions will meet once more on the shores of Kalimdor to vie for control of this war-torn region. The Cycle of War Begins Anew
When Tides of Vengeance goes live, Darkshore will start in the hands of the Forsaken and the Horde—but it won’t be long before the Alliance makes its first strike.
Max-level Alliance players who complete the new opening storyline with Tyrande and the night elves will be immediately able to queue for the Battle for Darkshore Warfront, signaling the start of a new cycle of war as each faction contributes resources, launches their assault, and reaps the benefits of claiming Darkshore for their own.
We’ve also shortened the cycle for the first two weeks of the Warfront so that players from both factions will have access to it and all its rewards prior to the holidays. A War on Two Fronts
With the addition of the Battle for Darkshore, there will be two battles for players to fight—and many resource contributions to be made to support the war efforts in both the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor.
To help support these dual efforts, we’re making some updates to the Warfront cycles and phases, and how each faction gains access to the Battle for Darkshore and Battle for Stromgarde.
First, each Warfront’s cycle is completely independent from the other, and players will be able to contribute to either Warfront without impacting the other. You’ll be able to track the progress of contributions for each in an updated UI so you’ll be able to easily see which phase each Warfront is in.
Contribute Phase
With the release of Tides of Vengeance, we’re also changing the way the Contribute phase works for both Warfronts. While there were previously 11 quests available at the start of the contribution cycle, there will instead be 3 available each day during this phase. These quests will always include one to turn in either gold or War Resources, as well as two profession turn-ins. Siege Phase
The Siege phase is when your faction can queue up for the Warfront instance. And while this phase works much the same as it did with the Battle for Stromgarde, the new Darkshore Warfront offers a whole new experience—with new locations, troops, building types, objectives, and more. Players who meet the minimum item-level requirement of 320 will be able to queue for the Battle for Darkshore Warfront as often as they would like while this phase is active.
As the Alliance, your mission will be to reclaim Darkshore and undo the natural devastation caused by marauding Forsaken. On the Horde, your ultimate goal will be to wrest control of this key location in Kalimdor back from the Alliance, razing the landscape and ensuring the night elves can’t reclaim their homeland.
As players storm this new Warfront, they’ll notice some other changes that set it apart from the Battle for Stromgarde. For example: Rather than grant a buff to players, Essence of Storms will provide players with access to powerful transformations allowing them to take on alternate roles such as healing or tanking on the battlefield.
Players will also gain new gear from the new Warfront (starting at item level 340), and players can take part in a quest once per Warfront cycle to obtain a higher item level piece of gear. Patrol Phase
During the Patrol phase, maximum-level players of the controlling faction who have completed an introductory questline will be able to participate in multiple new outdoor activities in the newly revamped Darkshore zone. Controlling the zone will also provide access to a new faction-specific World Boss, rare creatures, and access to new gear, pets, mounts, and Warfront gear. There will also be plenty of new treasures hidden throughout the zone just waiting to be discovered.
Players will also be able to take part in a rotating series of new World Quests during this phase which provide additional opportunities to get great new loot to use in your ongoing adventures.
What's New in the Darkshore Zone?
With the arrival of this new Warfront, the outdoor zone of Darkshore has been reshaped by the fires of war for maximum-level players and features environment updates, an all-new World Boss for each faction, and all new World Quests for the controlling faction. There will also be new rare creatures to discover along the way that have a chance to drop mounts, pets, toys, treasure chests, and new Darkshore Warfronts gear.
We’ve also updated the Patrol Phase for Arathi Highlands in Tides of Vengeance to include many new World Quests, which will replace the current kill quests in the outdoor zone. Like those being introduced in Darkshore, these will rotate each day that your faction controls the zone, providing new opportunities for loot and rewards each time you return during the Patrol phase.
Completing these new World Quests in both Darkshore and Arathi Highlands will help you increase your reputation with the 7th Legion or Honorbound emissary. Rewarding the War Effort
Players will be able to earn new night elf (Alliance) or Forsaken (Horde)–themed Warfront armor sets, as well as a new Service Medal currency, by taking part in various activities in the Warfront. Service Medals can be used to purchase items such as new heirlooms, pets, mounts, transmog cloaks, a teleport ring, and experience potions at a vendor located in the Warfronts area of either Boralus or Zandalar.
The item levels of gear from both Warfronts will start off in line with those currently available in Arathi Highlands; however, the item levels will increase once and Season 2 of the raid, PvP, and Mythic Dungeon begins with the arrival of the Battle of Dazar’alor raid. What are Warfronts?
Warfronts represent large-scale war on the homefront as members of each faction fight for control of a location critical to the war effort between the Horde and Alliance.
Anchored in the real-time strategy (RTS) origins of Warcraft, you play the role of a lieutenant leading the charge on the ground of a massive battle. Together with 19 fellow allied players, you will create an outpost, secure resources, set up supply lines, and train troops to help push forward and assault an enemy stronghold. Unlike Warcraft III, you’ll be fighting in this conflict firsthand rather than commanding from a top-down perspective—putting you on the front lines of a large-scale, 20-player PvE experience.
WoW Classic and No Reward Linking to Modern WoW
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker)
Mounts and companions you get in classic SHOULD NOT be usable across multiple characters on the same classic account, however, you should be able to have these rewards in retail. This will increase the longevity of classic.
Like it was stated at BlizzCon there will be no crossover in rewards between Retail WoW and Classic WoW. I don’t think there is any need to change that stance but I appreciate the post OP.
I think its fair to ask for an opportunity to earn those rewards again however I don’t think it should come at the cost of diminishing the rewards that players earned years ago and cherish. I think the opportunity to earn and have them exclusively on Classic is fair because its staying on Classic itself. I think any more crossover than that could be damaging and lessen the value or prestige of those rewards.
It’s a pretty solid philosophy at the moment that there will be zero crossover of rewards. What about the original Collector’s Edition pets? Surely that’s a different case. Nothing else is like that and it would be a cool little tip of the hat to those who got the original collector’s edition (which isn’t many people).
This is something interesting but nothing decided or concrete on it.
I would try to seperate in your mind retail and classic. Something you buy on retail shouldn’t give you something in Classic, or vice versa. The philosophy is pretty rock solid that they are separate gameplay wise. If you obtained the original CE pets you used those/can still use those in the live game you obtained it for.
It is an interesting thought though, that to some that did have it, that was a part of their classic experience. It’s likely we won’t implement something that ties into the existing things you own on the live game, but maybe reoffer them since Classic is it’s own thing. Before the fury of that statement sinks in, I’m not saying that will happen at all (there literally hasn’t even been a discussion of it), just sharing my thoughts on a solution to that problem that I could see.
This also could be an exception where we somehow grant them for original CE owners. No idea. Interesting thing to think about though. I’ll mention it though that you guys are asking about the original CE pets for original CE owners. but token purchases in retail are going to have an effect on Classic.
Eh that’s not really the same thing but I get your point. I’d argue that they’re still not connected even with that. Just having a subscription allows you to play the game. It doesn’t get you anything past that.
If things were sold like pets or mounts then you could make that argument, but I don’t think it has any merit when you’re just talking about the sub. Literally one of two reasons I’d ever consider doing Classic just shot down instantly. You know that thing that’s used to keep people playing? You guys are just throwing it away. Seems very silly.
Sorry you feel this way but if that’s what you were hoping for then it sounds like Classic isn’t really for you. That’s okay though. I still encourage you to try it though!
It’s not throwing it away, its giving the community that wants Classic the most authentic experience we can provide. Adding any sort of reward carry over in either direction isn’t authentic and defeats the point.
Classic is there for those that will want to play it. Not just for rewards on their BfA license, which would be devaluing to those that earned those rewards that are no longer obtainable, and vice versa would be introducing things that were never there in Classic to begin with. Neither of which we want to do in this case. We know the community that has been asking for Classic for years doesn’t want either of those scenarios, and neither do we. No, it really doesn’t. Blizzard said they could make an EXCEPTION.
Honestly, I would have the expectation that you won’t get them in Classic just because you already own them. That license was to have them in the current game, which you still do.
I can’t 100% say it will or won’t but it’s less than likely, meaning it’s not really something to argue about on the forums.
Assume Retail and Classic are two separate games entirely (apart from the sub granting access to both) unless we announce otherwise.
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Multiple Diablo Projects to be Announced in 2019 Our Hearthstone Arena Highlights for Rastakhan's Rumble Dunegorger Kraulok - Vol'dun Valley Battle for Azeroth World Boss
This week's Battle for Azeroth world boss is Dunegorger Kraulok in Vol'dun.
Level
Type
Slot
Name
Model Viewer
355
Trinket
Trinket
Kraulok's Claw
355
Back
Back
Desert Nomad's Wrap
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355
Cloth
Chest
Raider's Shrouding Thobe
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355
Cloth
Waist
Cord of Flowing Sands
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355
Leather
Head
Hood of the Sinuous Devilsaur
Modelviewer
355
Leather
Hands
Gloves of the Desert Assassin
Modelviewer
355
Mail
Wrists
Shrouded Sandscale Bracers
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355
Mail
Hands
Dunegorger's Grips
Modelviewer
355
Plate
Legs
Sandswept Legionnaire's Legplates
Modelviewer
Weekly Event - Wrath of the Lich King Timewalking Wrath of the Lich King Timewalking is back this week. Don't forget to check out the Ulduar timewalking raid! The weekly quest from your adventure journal rewards azerite power and Cache of Uldir Treasures.
You can find Auzin in old Dalaran.
Don't forget to keep working towards Reins of the Eclipse Dragonhawk, Bridle of the Ironbound Wraithcharger, and Yu'lei, Daughter of Jade!
Reins of the Infinite Timereaver can also drop from any Timewalking dungeon boss.
Island Expeditions for the Week of December 4th, 2018
The Island Expeditions for the week are: Dread Chain with Mogu
Rotting Mire with Jinyu
Verdant Wilds with Druids
Call to Arms: Zuldazar
This week's Call to Arms is Call to Arms: Zuldazar or Call to Arms: Zuldazar. Head to Zuldazar with warmode enabled to kill 10 players of the opposing faction. This will reward you with conquest and 75 reputation for either 7th Legion or The Honorbound.View the full article